Navicure, a cloud-based healthcare billing provider, and Becker's Healthcare conducted a research study in the third quarter of 2015 to understand trends, challenges and technologies in patient payment processes at ASCs.
"As more and more patients are paying out of pocket, it's important for ASCs to evaluate payment processes and determine how technology can enable a better collections model," said Jim Denny, co-founder and CEO of Navicure.
Below are five compelling statistics to know from the survey.
1. Patient payments are estimated to represent $1.4 to $2.7 million dollars annually for a single ASC, yet only one-third of respondents viewed patient collections efforts as high-priority.
2. Many survey participants still rely on manual payment processes. Thirty-eight percent collect payments by mail and 41 percent take credit/debit card payments via phone.
3. Sixty-two percent of respondents believed the biggest collection challenges to be patients' inability to pay or patients' slow payment time.
4. When asked if staff estimate patient financial responsibility at the time of service, 77 percent replied "sometimes" or "never".
5. Seventy-seven percent of ASC's believe automated payment plans (i.e. payment plans with fixed amounts automatically charged to debit/credit accounts each month) offers the most helpful solution to patient collection challenges.
According to Navicure's findings, the company believes that a new ASC focus on patients over payers coupled with the integration of new technology solutions will greatly improve financial health.
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