The healthcare payments sector is quickly expanding, with total payer and consumer payments expected to exceed $5 trillion by 2022. As a result of shifting payment responsibility and changes brought on by health reform, consumer payments for healthcare services and health plan premiums are the fastest expanding segment of the industry.
On the other hand, the healthcare industry is failing to accommodate the increased role of consumers in the payment process, with over 30% of healthcare dollars being wasted due to inefficient, disconnected payment processing and costs associated with paper-based billing and administrative operations. These costs are projected to rise unless the healthcare industry acknowledges and handles the essential role of consumer choice and the impact of the digital economy on payment options. You can use electronic health records to maintain this system.
Consumer Healthcare Payments Trends are changing
InstaMed’s Trends in Healthcare Payments Annual Report 2020 outlines a significant need for healthcare sector professionals to focus on customer preferences and their rising role in the payments process. Healthcare providers and payers who provide consumers with preferred payment methods, such as card payments and online payments, reduce consumer uncertainty and, as a result, enhance collection rates. New electronic payment channels, such as smartphone payments and Apple Pay, will also help consumers meet their expectations for straightforward billing and convenient payment methods. Collection rates, customer satisfaction, profitability, and cash flow will benefit from optimizing the consumer payment process.
On the other hand, the healthcare industry is failing to accommodate the increased role of consumers in the payment process, with over 30% of healthcare dollars being wasted due to inefficient, disconnected payment processing and costs associated with paper-based billing and administrative operations. Unless the healthcare industry acknowledges and handles the essential role of consumer choice and the impact of the digital economy on payment options, these costs are projected to rise.
Covid-19 Effects on Consumer payments
In March 2020, World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic, introducing “Stay-at-home” models of living, and almost all the countries have gone through lockdowns. Forced closures of the business and remote working have affected many businesses. About 20.5 million people were unemployed due to this pandemic. 5.4 million People have lost their health insurance because this insurance was company or employer-funded. So, along with the job, people have lost their insurance. The latest trends of payment have been changed. Healthcare entities need to change as well to comply with the changes.
Telemedicine portals and electronic communications
When it comes to medical bills today, most consumers prefer electronic communications, whether the communication is via email, SMS, or in-application notifications. In addition, patients want to pay bills online via telemedicine portals or other virtual methods.
The outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic also caused a rapid change and increase in the telemedicine industry. Looking to the future of telemedicine, healthcare providers can expect more virtual appointments, increased use of artificial intelligence, and expanded insurance coverage to pay for these services.
Telemedicine makes it easier to make appointments. Telemedicine portals provide a secure place to review and store patients’ medical and billing records, replacing the slower and less efficient paper-based methods doctors have used for decades.
Optimizing the billing process
Online patient portals are also among the bill payment platforms most requested by patients, mobile applications, contactless mobile wallets (like Apple Pay), payment by SMS, and payment by QR Code. Patients, especially younger patients, like to use one-click online payments and expect the same ease of medical billing.
Customers now overwhelmingly prefer contactless solutions for a cleaner, faster, and more convenient experience, even for in-office payments. As of April 2020, a MasterCard survey shows that 74% of consumers plan to continue using contactless payment methods post-pandemic.
Adopting good self-pay collections practices can also help shorten bill collection cycles and increase overall patient collections, thereby reducing the burden on providers.
You can adopt a medical billing company to work for your medical revenue cycle management.
A more empathetic, patient-centric approach
The pandemic had prompted a more empathetic approach to collections, particularly in the spring and summer of 2020, when many people were experiencing severe financial losses but still needed access to healthcare.
To reduce the financial burden on patients, many healthcare providers have temporarily suspended billing, suspended pre-treatment payment policies, or offered access to payment plans. While these adjustments may not be possible in all circumstances, patients want more flexible cost management options.
Unfortunately, the affordability of health care continues to be an issue that plagues the nation. Recurring bill payments are a must for struggling patients, as are cash discount payments. Increasing patient involvement is also a way to reduce patient billing problems. Emails are ways to provide patients with up-to-date information on balances and due dates.
Keeping Current Records
Keeping insurance information and records up to date is always important. So we recommend that you ask patients for updates each time they visit your practice.
Insurance records are one of the most important things to keep up to date to keep track of who owes what and how much a patient owe on each visit. You can review insurance information a few days before the appointment and have new forms filled out annually. It’s even better if you can design this process digitally.
Other ways to improve billing at your office reception include well-documented billing, collecting prepayments, and implementing a credit card record-keeping program. Outsourcing medical revenue cycle management can help you keep the updated record of your bills and accounts recievables.
Contact the Experts
For practices that are still struggling to measure and manage patient collections efficiently, it may be a good idea to hire a professional medical billing or coding expert. Within the next decade, the USA. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the medical billing and coding profession will experience approximately 8% growth.
Medical billing and coding go hand in hand, and specialists need to know how to translate benefits into alphanumeric codes while arranging payment between providers, patients, and insurance companies. Assigning codes and billing patients correct is an important task requiring a thorough understanding of software tools and the modern healthcare system.
The healthcare institute cannot improve profitability much without professional medical billers and coders. An experienced medical billing and coding professional can help get your practice back on track for patient billing.
Improve Your Patient Billing Today
No matter what type of practice you have, billing is necessary for the American healthcare system. Improved recording and payment practices can improve the efficiency of your operations, while current payment trends can ensure a smooth patient experience. Healthcare enterprises can minimize their billing problems by using digital health tools, prioritizing patients, and developing a strong system.
Guest Payments
Healthcare guest payments do not require any login or registration signups to the healthcare websites and portals. You can view the cost of healthcare services through a statement. Patients can pay through a Guest account. According to a survey by Fiserv, 78% of people have adopted autopay options.
According to a report published by the American Hospital Association, the National Uncompensated care-based cost of 5139 hospitals reached $42.67 billion. Sole practitioners and healthcare institutes require AI-enabled practice management systems and software to reduce this cost.
Conclusion
With the age of automation, every system, software, facility needs to be upgrade. Evolution is not only helping hand for the healthcare providers but a need of the hour as well.