Current fact suggests, nearly 6 in 10 patients either rarely or never received an estimate of out-of-pocket costs before they received treatment. As per a survey report from TransUnion Healthcare, 75 percent of patients mentioned that they can play better if they receive pre-treatment estimates of out-of-pocket costs well in advance.
The healthcare experts agree that providers must educate patients to help them make informed decisions. Providing your patients with useful information has not only been shown to improve health outcomes but also can increase your practice collections down the line. Let’s take a look at how educating patients will increase your practice collection.
Allow Patients to Make Informed Decisions
Educating patients about their payment responsibilities prior to a visit can give patients the choice of opting for a treatment or not. And that it could also help providers to suggest possible health plans that better suit the patient’s needs. If practices don’t take responsibility, they may risk subjecting their patients to a very unpleasant surprise bill.
And that, in turn, reduces the practice’s likelihood of getting paid. Knowing health plans are complicated and patients often don’t understand them means that there is a burden on practices to educate patients or risk the consequences.
It’s hard for the small practices with a smaller number of team members and time to educate the patients about health plan and their responsibility i.e., co-pay, unpaid deductibles. Patient education should begin prior to appointment and must continue throughout the revenue life-cycle.
By gathering patients’ information ahead of time, and continually monitoring their insurance coverage and benefits through the entire process will result in a much-improved practice collection for services rendered.
Reduce Cancelled Appointments
It’s a fact that patients who are well-informed are more likely to comply with a provider’s recommended treatment plan. These patients are active in managing their own health and usually don’t have to return multiple times for the same conditions.
This means as a provider you won’t be spending several appointments treating the same issues you’ve discussed with the patient time and time again. Instead, you can focus on complex clinical issues, which tend to lead to higher reimbursements.
If you’re one of the many practices already transitioning to value-based payments, then you’ll notice an immediate increase in practice collections from improved health outcomes. Physicians have histrionically carried most of the burden of patient well-being. But a fully educated patient could share that responsibly with you.
By educating them on how to properly treat their condition, you’re empowering them towards better health. Not only will this make patients happier, but it can also mean increased practice collection.
Need Assistance?
As mentioned earlier, it’s hard for small practices with a smaller number of team members and time to educate the patients. Educating patients is a time-consuming process where you need an expert team who is good at understanding health plan benefits and estimating patient responsibility prior to visits. You have to stay in touch with the insurance rep to understand changing insurance coverage.
With all your experienced team involved in educating patients, who are managing billing operations? Medical billing is the backbone of revenue cycle management and steady cash flow ensures the financial sustainability of your practice.
Don’t worry, MedicalBillersandCoders (MBC) can assist you in overall billing operations. With our eligibility and benefits services, you will be equipped with insurance coverage/benefits reports which can help in educating patients.
With this report, you can accurately estimate patient responsibility, payer responsibility, and coordination of benefits, and can collect accurate payments at the time of service. To learn more about our medical billing and coding services, contact us at info@medicalbillersandcoders.com/ 888-357-3226
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FAQs
1. Why is educating patients about out-of-pocket costs important?
It helps patients make informed decisions, reduces surprise billing, and improves practice collections by ensuring they are prepared for payment responsibilities.
2. How does patient education impact appointment cancellations?
Informed patients are more likely to comply with treatment plans, reducing no-shows or cancellations and improving the provider’s workflow and revenue.
3. Why is it challenging for small practices to educate patients?
Smaller practices often lack the staff and time needed to educate patients about health plan benefits and payment responsibilities.
4. How can Medical Billers and Coders (MBC) assist with patient education?
MBC provides eligibility and benefits reports, enabling practices to estimate patient responsibility accurately and educate patients about their payment obligations.
5. What additional services does MBC offer?
MBC specializes in medical billing and coding, eligibility verification, payment posting, denial handling, and more to support your practice’s revenue cycle.
