Healthcare organizations should offer electronic billing options patients want rather than use snail mail to send paper statements, according to Jim Denny, president and CEO of Duluth, Ga.-based Navicure.
He specifically cited a 2017 Patient Payment Check-Up survey that reveals 89 percent of providers still send paper statements through snail mail, although more than 50 percent of patients prefer electronic bills over paper statements.
Given this survey, Mr. Denny shared the following tip with Becker's Hospital Review.
"Despite the abundance of technology that is available, many providers are still billing patients via snail mail. Not only does this way of billing cost more (on average paper billing can cost $7 per statement, while eStatements usually cost 6 cents, according to industry data), it can easily cause confusion and delay payments from patients. Offering patients a more convenient way of paying through electronic billing options such as eStatements, credit card on file and online bill pay can lead to less bad debt, more revenue and fewer days in accounts receivable. By saying goodbye to snail mail and implementing the automated, digital patient payments workflow that patients actually want, you'll ultimately make it easy for patients to pay — and that's a win for all."
Read more about preparing payment options for the future here.
If you would like to share your RCM best practices, please email Kelly Gooch at kgooch@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in the "RCM tip of the day" series.
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