Efficient Payment Processes: An Unexpected Game Changer for the Healthcare Industry

At a glance

• Embrace tech-forward payments: Many practitioners have been slow to adopt updated payments technology in their practices while other industries speed ahead.
• Impact on your practice: By offering more payment efficiency through the tools and technology patients are already accustomed to using elsewhere, you can provide them with a better experience and save your business more money.
• Next steps: Aprio Merchant Services team offers a free consultation and analysis to practices looking to take the leap into electronic payments.

Schedule your consultation with Aprio today

The full story:

The healthcare industry is slowly starting to embrace the benefits of tech-forward trends like electronic payments — but there still seems to be a disconnect between the healthcare industry and its patients. In fact, according to J.P. Morgan’s “Trends in Healthcare Payments” 2024 annual report, 71% of providers collect from patients with paper and manual processes most often, but 75% of consumers want to pay medical bills online.

What are the benefits of implementing electronic payment systems?

Your patients — and practice — hang in the balance

Whether it is using a mobile app to place a takeout order or making a loan payment with the click of a button, your patients want to pay for their healthcare with the same flexibility they enjoy when paying for other necessary expenses. Plus, there is a lot more financial pressure on patients today when it comes to healthcare; providing innovative tools and transparency to ease the burden will put your practice ahead of the competition.

Implementing more efficient electronic payment methods doesn’t only benefit your patients; these tools can also boost your bottom line and create major time savings.

Consider this: how much time does your administrative staff spend every week sending out paper billing statements or refund checks in the mail? How much time is spent chasing down payments or collecting payment information over the phone? How many of your patients let payments lapse to refrain from long hold times? What does that aging accounts receivable look like for you?

When you break it down, the time and dollars spent on maintaining manual, paper-based payment processes are more significant than adopting, implementing, and training your staff on new (and better) electronic payment tools.

Ridding your business of manual payment methods is also critical when you factor in the labor shortage that many offices and owners are grappling with currently. The more tasks you are able to automate and simplify for your front office, the higher your employee attraction and retention rates will be, especially since staff will have the opportunity to spend extra time on more strategic, value-added tasks.

Prioritize key touch points for efficient electronic payments

If you have concerns about the transition to electronic payments, it helps to take a big picture look at your business. Here are some key considerations and strategies to keep in mind when thinking about making the switch:

• Focus on convenience and patient care: To help introduce electronic payments while simultaneously creating more financial flexibility for patients, many offices have started setting up electronic payment plans. These plans enable patients to pay for key services and procedures at a more realistic pace in an automatic, low-fuss manner. Additionally, electronic payment plans help make out-of-pocket costs more feasible for patients, encouraging them to opt for necessary care they might otherwise not be able to afford and opening the door for practitioners to provide more services to those in need.

• Enable 24/7/365 payments: Accepting payments online either directly through your website or via QR codes are two simple ways to create a convenient, frictionless patient payment experience. More progressive practices are turning to text message, which has become patients’ primary mode of communication. By leveraging technology that enables practitioners to customize text messages to patients with hard-coded links that enable them to click and scan their credit cards securely, patients are empowered to pay bills anytime, anywhere.

• Consider strategies to shorten the cash cycle: Positive cash flow enables you to make new investments like hiring employees, opening a new location, and buying better tech and equipment. In addition, working capital isn’t tied up as long, so your business will benefit from greater liquidity. There is a variety of different ways to shorten the cash cycle and improve cash flow:
  • Provide a larger menu of online payment options or collect payments before patients’ appointments through text-to-pay or emailed links.
  • Collect insurance information from patients through online forms before their appointments so there are no surprises at checkout.
  • Implement an office financial policy to get pre-authorization from patients to charge their card on file for up to a certain amount for any overdue balances that are not paid within a certain timeframe.

The bottom line

If this is your first entry into the efficient electronic payments’ world, you may feel unsure about what tools to implement, which processes to retune, and where to start.

Aprio Merchant Services team provides a complimentary consultative experience powered through our partner-enabled platforms, which enable us to create a tailored solution that works specifically for you and your practice’s specific needs — not just a static tool right out of the box. Through it all, our goal is to help you implement a solution that enables you to save money, create more efficient processes, and increase patient retention.

Schedule a complimentary consultation with us today.

References:

[1] J.P. Morgan Healthcare Payments, “Trends in Healthcare Payments” Annual Report, March 26, 2024, https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/payments/payment-trends/healthcare-payment-trends , accessed November 20, 2024