The urgency of modernizing the patient financial experience is undeniable, as out-of-pocket healthcare costs keep rising along with patients' expectations for cost transparency and more convenient payment options.
During a July Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by CareCredit, Shannon Burke discussed how building transparency and trust into the financial experience can drive patient satisfaction, help staff and improve the provider revenue cycle. Shannon is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Health Systems for the Synchrony Health and Wellness platform. CareCredit is a Synchrony solution.
Three key takeaways were:
1.) Patients' responsibility for out-of-pocket healthcare costs continues to increase.1 With deductibles having risen 25 percent between 2015 and 2020, 70 percent of consumers affirming they have out-of-pocket healthcare costs and approximately 50 percent saying they don't know whether their provider offers a payment plan, failing to provide cost transparency and flexible payment options is not a sustainable strategy.2
According to Instamed's Trends in Healthcare Payments Tenth Annual Report: 2019, 89 percent of consumers said they want to know their payment responsibility upfront. Further, 83 percent said they prefer electronic payment methods and 66 percent indicated they would consider switching providers for a better payment experience. "Because they are paying significant dollars out of their pocket, patients are expecting to be treated like a customer, not just a consumer of care," Mrs. Burke said.
2.) Cost transparency improve trust, satisfaction and patient loyalty — and starts with a financial conversation. That conversation should be followed by providing cost estimates and offering flexible payment options — but providers need the right tools to do that. This information is typically not available within conventional payment systems; trying to unearth it places an additional burden on clinical and administrative staff who are already facing staff shortages and increased workloads.
"Equipping staff with tools to have those conversations early on, even before patients reach your location and throughout their journey from pre- to post-care and post-billing, while making workflows easier, is a big part of thinking about your revenue cycle collections process," Mrs. Burke said.
3.) Third-party patient financing providers can also help organizations reduce financial risk. Solutions such as CareCredit company card which integrates with providers' existing tools and enables payments with no recourse if the patient delays payment or defaults* also reduce the risk of non-payment or non-collection. They accomplish this by empowering patients with self-serve tools including:
- Custom links and QR codes that let patients see if they prequalify, apply or learn more about the CareCredit credit card right from their own device
- Online calculators that let them compare different financing options, choose the best one that fits their budget and calculate their estimated monthly payment
- Quick and easy online payment options
To maximize consistency and easy access to these tools, the right placement is important throughout the patient journey, including:
- When patients schedule appointments
- During check-in and check-out
- On patient or client forms
- On the provider's website or social media
"The financial journey used to happen at the end of the clinical cycle . . . but a good revenue cycle financing process starts at the point of care and flows throughout," Mrs. Burke noted.
When organizations consider what they can do to improve the patient financial experience — and in doing so improve the efficiency of their revenue cycle — there are three key aspects on which they should focus their efforts: 1) facilitating trust and transparency; 2) arming staff with the knowledge and tools to start financial conversations with patients and 3) enabling flexible financing options for patients. The right third-party patient financing provider can be an invaluable partner in that endeavor.
*Subject to the representations and warranties in your agreement with CareCredit, including but not limited to only charging for services that have been completed or that will be completed within a specified period of time, always obtaining the patient’s signature on in-office applications and the cardholder’s signature on the printed receipt.
1Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Benefits 2020 Annual Survey, Oct. 2020
2Pymnts.com, Consumers’ Healthcare Financial Experiences and Patient Loyalty, July 2021
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