Patient Payments Blog

The statistics are staggering. 

Topics: Patient Engagement, Patient Payment Solutions

Our most popular graphics, in fact, our most popular posts are about scripting. Knowing what to say and when to say it is essential to collecting from patients. We published this graphic a couple of years ago and thought it was worth a revisit. 

Topics: Patient Balances, Patient Engagement, Patient Payment Solutions, Patient Collections, Patient Centered Care, Front Desk Tips, Front Office

We’ve learned a lot in twenty years of providing payment services for practices. One very clear lesson is that patients tend to complete treatments that they are actively paying for.

 

Topics: Patient Engagement, Patient Payment Solutions, Treatment Plans, Payment Plans

 Worry is growing about the staggering costs of healthcare and unexpected medical bills. I read a study, column, or white paper on the topic at least once a month. The statistics just keep climbing.

Topics: Patient Engagement, Patient Centered Practice, Patient Centered Care, Patient Satisfaction, Missed appointments, Fear

Research from The Advisory Board Company has shown patients aren't likely to pay medical bills greater than 5 percent of their household income. (https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2016/02/26/even-with-aca-some-hospitals-face-bad-debt)

Topics: medical practice management, Patient Engagement, High Deductible Challenge

Do your patients love the doctor but hate to deal with the front desk staff? Many practices make the mistake of putting the employee with the most seniority (or fewest back office skills) at the front desk, regardless of their people skills. Patient satisfaction and retention can be permanently damaged when the wrong person or people occupy your front desk.

Topics: healthcare payments, patient retention, medical practice management, Patient Engagement, Patient Centered Practice, Patient Payments, New Healthcare Consumer, Patient Centered Care, Medical Office Administration, Front Desk Tips, Front Office

As a follow-up to last weeks video we have created a printable graphic with the five essential questions for securing on-time patient payments. We know how important it is to ask the right questions at the right time. Staff members often get stuck when discussing payment with patients. This graphic will give them a place to start and a way to ensure that payment will be made in a timely fashion. 

Topics: Patient Balances, Credit Card On File, Patient Engagement, Patient Payment Solutions, Patient Collections, Patient Centered Care, Front Desk Tips, Front Office

 

Given a choice between extracting my own wisdom teeth without anesthesia and having the job of collecting healthcare balances – I might just go for DIY dentistry. At least the pain of extracting my own teeth would eventually subside. The pain of collecting patient balances seems to never go away. Just the chore of getting someone to answer his or her phone is an excruciatingly painful exercise.

Topics: Patient Balances, Patient Engagement, Patient Payment Solutions, Patient Collections, Patient Payment Policies, Patient Collections for Hospitals, practice management

Last week I compared your medical practice with a day spa to introduce an idea. The idea is that medical practices make an extra effort to connect with patients early to prevent issues later. If you haven’t read that post you can here. I’m expanding on the idea in this post.

Topics: patient retention, Patient Balances, Patient Relations, Patient Engagement, Patient Collections, Patient Payments, Patient Payment Policies, Patient Eligibility, Patient Centered Care, practice management, Front Desk Tips, Front Office

 

3 Payment Questions to Help Patients Understand Their Responsibilities.

  

Questions attract attention. They require us to think and act. Are we educating our patients in ways that invite them to think and act? Or, by contrast, are we simply shoving a Financial Policy filled with legalese at them hoping they won’t ask us any questions? Can you put yourself in their place? If you were to be required to pay for something, wouldn’t you like to be warned in advance? If the responsibility will be a budget bender wouldn’t you like to be given some options?

If you were given the task of creating the perfect educational piece to help patients understand their financial responsibilities; what would it look like? Did you know that color attracts attention? What color would you use to draw attention? What would the language sound like: firm, friendly, demanding, inviting? What reading level would you target? Did you know that 80% of adult Americans can read something written at a fifth grade level? Did you know that if you write at an eighth grade level you’ll loose 50% of the adult population?  What essential points would you cover? Would you like some suggestions?

Topics: healthcare payments, Patient Balances, Patient Engagement, Patient Collections, Patient Payments, Medical Billing