Personal interactions can play a role in helping healthcare organizations receive timely payment from patients, according to KaLynn Gates, president of Springfield, Ore.-based financial services provider HealthFirst Financial.
Ms. Gates shared the following tip with Becker's Hospital Review.
"Even with everyone glued to their smartphones these days, it's not enough to build patient payment portals and think they will come to pay their bills. While undoubtedly essential, technology cannot replace the power of personal interactions when dealing with patients about their medical bills. So give customer service reps the authority to waive late fees or offer an extension if a patient loses a job or suffers another financial setback. Go even further with such old-school tactics as having service reps call patients to check in after their first payment and send thank-you notes when they've paid off their balance. Keeping the personal touch will go a long way to building patient financial engagement and loyalty."
Read more about patient payments 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.