By Mira Van
There are several factors that can affect a practice’s ability to maximize revenue collection and cut down the time it takes for patients to pay. The factors include:
Patient Experience
Patient experience has had the biggest effect on the revenue cycle. So, it is helpful to conceptualize the patient experience as it relates to the revenue cycle and see how the two intersect repeatedly.
Informed patients are more able to fulfill patient responsibilities than uninformed patients. It is important for patients to be aware of what is expected of them from the beginning. They should be explained their financial responsibilities before receiving service.
That is, their payment options make paying easy. This way, patients will have had a better experience and the revenue management cycle will be more effective and the revenue will increase.
The patient should also stay connected through a patient portal or any other system that allows access to payment records, health records, and secure messaging options to the health care provider.
Insurance Eligibility
When a patient does not have health insurance (or their health insurance provider denies coverage for treatment), they will be required to pay the entire bill.
Depending on the treatment, a patient could find it difficult to pay the bill and this would result in lost revenue for the practice.
For this reason, it is important for the practice to verify the patient’s insurance eligibility before rendering their services immediately.
They should also provide multiple options for payment such as patient payment plans and financing or an online payment portal.
Patient Collections & Billing
The patient payment collection process can be tiring and time-consuming. When the practice lacks organized systems, billing errors will be common. This will frustrate patients and could lead to a delay in payment.
By accepting any type of payment, offering the plans for setting up payment plans, and filing claims correctly, a practice can optimize their collection and reduce the number of accounts receivable that would go uncollected.
When it comes to patient billing, there are four problems a practice could face: the need to estimate a patient’s financial responsibility accurately, educating patients about their responsibility, patients that take longer to pay, and those who do not pay at all.
A practice can handle these by providing patients with an estimate of their cost before treatment. Patients should be offered a wide variety of payment options to remove barriers to payment.
The practice should consider offering a consolidated online portal where the patients can pay for services.
Compliance & Data Security
In today’s times where security breaches and hacking are becoming a menace, the security of healthcare data is critical. The safety of a patient’s information is part of offering a critical patient experience and practice whose data is not secure.
If the security is breached, it could affect its revenue cycle and be hit with major fines.
A good revenue management cycle will free the practice of these issues.
