It’s a simple approach, but difficult to execute. At the end of the day, you need to invest in the right people, processes, and technology.  

1. Make proactive, adaptable, and digital patient communication a top priority. 

When it comes to communication–the earlier, the better. To fully engage your patients, you must invest in a robust communication system. Don’t wait to get critical information from your patients until they check-in. Most, if not all, check-in information can be done digitally before a patient presents at your office. Requiring your patients to fill out paperwork when they arrive at your office should be the exception, not the rule. When you get patient demographic and insurance information early, you can verify its accuracy and follow-up with the patient before their visit. This leads to more accurate and complete data for the provider and patient.

2. Create a fully connected patient ecosystem

In order to achieve optimal financial transparency, you need to figure out a way to get all your technology tools to work together as a unified patient platform.  

From patient estimates to outstanding bills, patients want access to their entire financial portfolio²⁴. And they want the provider to have consistent information and a seamless integration.  

This enables the same data to be accessed regardless of the communication method or person seeking the information. Whether a patient uses a chat feature, phone call, or text message, they will receive the same level of service and information accuracy.  In addition, regardless of the department they contact, they will receive consistent information. Too often a patient either needs to ‘retell their story’ to staff or they receive conflicting information depending on who they contact. A seamless, unified patient ecosystem prevents this from happening.

3. Fast, real-time integration and automation

The challenge is creating a unified patient platform when you’ve already invested in an expensive EHR. This is where an end-to-end patient payment platform comes in. Look for a technology solution that can integrate quickly and accurately with your EHR system. Rather than invest in a new EHR, find holistic patient platforms to work in tandem with it.

Conclusion

The demand for financial transparency in healthcare will continue to grow.  

With the increased customer expectations and government pressure compounded by the growing patient out-of-pocket expenses, providers will be expected to create simple, adaptable, and seamless patient payment platforms. Patients will need a one-stop-shop to get pricing estimates, billing information, and payment plan options.  

Even though most providers already have EHR’s in place, many of them do not optimize the patient experience in the payment space. With a unified patient platform that works with existing EHR’s, providers can meet (and exceed) their patient’s expectations while generating a significant ROI. 

The providers who get ahead in the payment space will put themselves in great position to handle the changing patient financial situations in the future.

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24.  Millenia. 5 Key Steps to Driving Patient Payments and Satisfaction for Hospitals or Healthcare Providers. 27 January 2022. Webinar.