When any patient comes to you for medical services, his primary concern is getting health needs addressed. The last thing he wants to deal with is navigating the complicated process of medical billing and dealing with his insurance provider. Any patient walking in wants the payment and claims process to be quick, easy, and seamless so he can get back to their busy life after leaving your office.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, providers are experiencing reduced patient volume up to 60 percent nationally which resulted in a 55 percent decline in revenue. In addition to increasing revenue, patient retention also boosts your practice’s reputation. This makes the patient retention strategy crucial.
Creating an efficient and secure billing experience is key to the success of patient experience and thereby patient retention. The following points emphasize how adopting patient-centered billing can help you in better patient retention:
Patient-Centered Billing Approach
Try to engage your patient is before they arrive to practice. Have an expert team who can do explanations for first-time customers. They should be educated on overall expenses and out-of-pocket expenses if any. Having a bad billing experience can cause difficulty for practice in retaining patients. If patients can’t easily manage their out-of-pocket costs, they may not return to the provider for another care encounter. Set expectations and then meet them.
According to a recent survey by HIMSS Analytics, more than fifty percent of patients said that they prefer electronic medical billing and patient collections. Patients also said they were more likely to pay their medical bills if online options were available.
Patient payment collection strategies have deep implications on patient satisfaction and ultimately, patient retention. Efficiently handle the patient statement process for your clients where you will explain bills to patients, answer all their questions, and also suggest patient-friendly payment options.
Utilize Technology
Investing in technology to streamline patient communication, promote patient engagement and automate administrative tasks offers advantages not only for your practice but also for your patients. It enables you to manage patient contacts, send secure and personalized HIPAA-compliant emails and text messages and offer digital check-in to your patients.
For example, implementing a solution that offers online appointment scheduling provides convenience for both patients and physician practices.
Research shows that the average time for a patient to complete a scheduling call is 8.1 minutes, and agents transfer patient calls 63 percent of the time. Similarly, the software helps to remind patients of their appointments, thereby reduce no-shows.
Digitizing Collections
As discussed earlier, the focus of patient-centered billing is to provide convenience, and transparency to the patients. One of the ways to achieve this is to add provide secure online billing payment options to the patients along with the existing process paper bills or accepting credit card payments over the telephone.
While patients prefer digitized communication, some of the doctors are still stuck with paper-based billing. According to feedback from providers, payment collections reduce, account resolutions soar through paper-based billing. Streamlining medical billing and digitizing patient collections is something all physician practices should consider to collect payments in the digital age.
Patient Feedback
Surveys and feedback from regular and irregular patients play a crucial role in the patient’s care delivery. Patients are more likely to return when practices focus on patient satisfaction by identifying gaps in deliverables and developing an action plan.
Giving importance to online reviews is another way to leverage patient feedback. To ensure that we keep our patients in the loop, communication in the form of feedback, reviews, or testimonial goes a long way.
As so many activities are involved in patient care, it’s quite obvious that providers may not find sufficient time for other crucial functions like medical billing. It would be beneficial to outsource your medical billing, which allows providers to allocate more employee resources to other aspects of their business, achieve better payment rates and faster cash flow.
To learn more about how our experienced team of billing and coding experts can improve your revenue cycle management, contact us today.
FAQs
1. How can patient-centered billing improve patient retention?
By offering transparent billing, clear communication about costs, and convenient payment options, patients are more likely to return for future care.
2. Why do patients prefer electronic billing options?
Over 50% of patients prefer electronic billing and payment options, as it provides ease of use and quicker processing, enhancing their overall experience.
3. How does technology help streamline patient billing?
Technology helps automate appointment scheduling, reminders, and secure communications, reducing administrative burden and improving patient satisfaction.
4. How can digitizing collections benefit medical practices?
Digital billing and secure online payments improve collection rates and reduce administrative overhead compared to paper-based methods.
5. How can patient feedback improve billing processes?
Regular surveys and reviews help identify areas for improvement, ensuring practices focus on patient satisfaction and retention, leading to better care outcomes.
