Patient Payments Blog

We know collecting patient payments is tough, we read about it and experience it daily. But what we don't know is how much more complicated it has become due to the increase in compliance regulations around patient billing activities. 

These are three compliance issues that you must be aware of to assess if your current patient billing strategies are adhering to them.

No matter your job, you are more than likely faced with at least one obstacle a day. You have come to expect it. These burdens pop up and get in the way of you performing your job. They eventually put you behind in your work and could cost you more than just money—they could cost you your patients. 

As a healthcare provider, you anticipate these burdens; the healthcare landscape gets more complicated every time you turn around. But, anticipation doesn’t necessarily make you ready to handle obstacles in the most efficient and effective way possible.

While healthcare providers poise themselves for another year of frustration navigating through regulations around insurance, patient care, and interoperability (to name a few), the banks are getting ready to add another one to the list.

The EMV (or “Europay, MasterCard, Visa”) encryption standard that has been around since 1992 and used in many European countries is coming to America. You may have already been contacted by slick credit card salesman trying to get you to buy all new equipment for this new form of credit card processing. But don’t be fooled. The benefits of using EMV technology at your practice may not be worth the added expense.

The holidays are over and by now you have settled back into your daily routine. But if you’re planning on bringing in more revenue from patients this year, keeping the same daily routine might be working against you.

A new season is here: high deductible season. And that means that practices will be employing every effort they can to get paid upfront. Are you ready for the challenge? 

In the medical practice, the core focus is providing quality patient care and increasing practice profitability. Your practice’s success is most commonly assessed by these two factors. But what about the health of your practice staff?

Healthcare providers suffer the burden of providing excellent care to others, while failing to take care of themselves. Medical staff that ignore their own health are creating huge risks for your patients’ health, not to mention your practice’s health. What is that doing to your practice’s bottom line?

In an ideal world, your patients will be making New Year's resolutions that keep them away from the doctor's office, but realistically speaking, they're going to end up needing a scheduled visit or two.

Make it your resolution to simplify the payment process so they get the help they need as pain-free as possible. You'll be stress-free going into 2015 knowing that their payment information is up to date and ready to go the moment they arrive at your office.

"If there was ever any industry that needed the cloud, it's the health industry," Microsoft’s Neil Jordan said at the Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit last month. Microsoft isn’t the only industry stakeholder to see the major importance that cloud computing holds for the healthcare industry. 

The New Year is right around the corner. It’s time to not only finish out 2014 with a bang, but to take a status check and make sure your practice has done everything to prepare for 2015.

Another year in healthcare is arguably different than another year in most other industries. Healthcare changes (especially those that have happened most recently) are often large scale and have a huge impact on daily operations. With all of these changes happening, making sure your practice has up-to-date technology is going to be a huge priority when thinking of the future.

Dedicate your efforts in 2015 to adopting these healthcare tech trends and reward your patients and your practice.

What are your current medical billing solutions? Do you have any? What you do have are unpaid patient balances that you don’t want to carry over into the next year. The solution: strengthening your billing solutions now to avoid a 20% decrease in payments next year.

That’s right. We said it. You could be running the risk of a 20% salary decrease in 2015 if you don’t become more proactive about collecting from patients. Here are some ways you can improve your billing strategies and see a 20% raise instead.

In Chinese astrology, 2015 is the year of the sheep. In your practice, 2015 will be the year of the patient.

As your practice wraps up a (hopefully) successful Q4, have you started to think about what 2015 will mean for you and your practice’s profitability?