Peter Thompson, revenue cycle strategist for ClearBalance, a patient financing services company, offered the following three strategies for healthcare organizations that want to build a patient-financing program.
1. Understand differences between a short-term payment plan (six months or less) and a longer term payment one (seven months or more) as far as cost to manage and expected return on investment.
2. Offer an interest-free patient payment option to encourage participation.
3. Communicate payment options throughout the care and billing cycle.
"Make sure your health system is aligned with the patient experience and financial outcomes that you want to achieve. Implementing a sustainable patient-financing program can increase patient collections, optimize reimbursement and promote consumer loyalty," said Mr. Thompson.
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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