Patient Payments Blog

Have you seen the recent stories about Chick-Fil-A? Not the ones that bash them for their stands on hot button issues. But the ones that report they are America’s favorite fast food restaurant? And the ones that talk about how they train their employees? 

Topics: patient retention, Patient Centered Care, Ideas, improvement

The pressure on medical offices to collect money from the patient continues to build with the latest news from Trans Union. It seems that patient out-of-pocket costs have increased by double digits for yet another year.

Topics: patient retention, Patient Relations, Patient Collections

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

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

Topics: patient retention, Patient Balances, medical practice management, Patient Relations, Patient Collections, Patient Payments, Medical Office Administration, Medical Billing

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You’ve likely heard it said many times and in many ways; your front desk is the face of your practice and what happens here carries all the way through your practice. It’s true. Succeed here and everything that happens after will build on the success.

If your desire is to set your medical and billing staff, as well as your patients, up for success then a careful review of what happens at your front desk is in order. Your plan should start with a simple checklist of essential questions for your staff to ask. The questions should be patient friendly, not difficult to answer, and easy to follow through.

Questions like the following fit the description and are easy to include on a checklist:

Topics: healthcare payments, patient retention, Credit Card On File, Patient Relations, Patient Engagement, Patient Centered Practice, Patient Payments, Patient Centered Care, practice management

What is the most difficult part of a doctor visit for patients? For most patients, the biggest challenge they face is in meeting their financial responsibilities. Increasingly, to retain loyal patients, how you manage their financial responsibilities plays an even larger part in your success.

Topics: patient retention, Credit Card On File, Medical Billing Solutions

Retail businesses know that the best marketing is word of mouth. Prospective buyers today choose products and services based on recommendations from trusted friends more readily than they listen to advertisements. In fact, consumers are now going to their social media sites and asking friends for recommendations on everything from their furnace repair guy to the best neurosurgeon.

The modern health organization today is no different. Healthcare consumers expect to receive care that aligns with the same principles of many of their consumer-related experiences. Successful healthcare organizations recognize the need to change their business operations to better fit these needs.

Topics: patient retention, New Healthcare Consumer

It was a dark and stormy night... The rain fell in torrents... 

You walk out of your front door, down a dark sidewalk, sheilding yourself from the rain as you rush to your mailbox. A wolf howls somewhere in the distance. A black cat stops in front of you, hisses, and runs off. You hear ghouls... goblins... ghosts... And then, the scariest part...

You open your mailbox to find an envelope with PAST DUE written in blood red ink.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Topics: patient retention, Patient Statements

Recently, patients have been paying more. Cost-sharing and high-deductible insurance plans are on the rise, and many patients are expected to make co-pays when visiting independent practices.

As a result, these patients—these healthcare consumers—have become more price-conscious and are now concerned with finding the best deal they can find when looking for medical care. This is one of the biggest causes of the rise in competition in healthcare. If you’re facing any issues with your patient retention, it may be because you’re not competitive enough.

Topics: patient retention, Patient Collections