Top 4 Ways to Streamline your Patient Billing Leading to Faster Collection

Dealing with patients is the linchpin of healthcare work. Your practice must maintain high patient engagement to boost medical and positive financial outcomes. Cost communication is an integral part of this relationship. A 2018 survey shows that poor experiences with billing departments negatively impact patient payments. 

By improving billing practices, health providers can maximize reimbursements. Failing to adopt the best methods available will drive patients away. You must maintain the best practices for billing to build trust and collect payments faster. 

Here are the best ways to streamline your patient billing leading to faster payment collection.

Provide Early Transparency

Clarity is integral to creating positive patient relationships. Consumers must know when to expect invoices and what their payment options are. Staff may be uncertain about concrete details before delivering services. Giving a reasonable estimate is an excellent first communication step. 

When first contacting patients, discuss payment methods. Encourage the patient to pay for services ahead of time. By breaching the topic of payment early, you can put consumers at ease by addressing their fears. Also, if a patient pays earlier, billing staff won’t have to spend valuable time tracking down payments. 

Offer Online Payment Portals

Web portals are online systems that give patients access to a payment platform globally. These systems offer a lot of flexibility. The main benefits are:

●      Location Flexibility: Patients may travel after receiving medical services. Thankfully, their web portal will travel with them and are even available on mobile phones. So, a review of charges and payment is simple wherever you are.

●      Time Flexibility: Sending a physical invoice is a time-consuming process. Once you’ve connected a valid payment option online, paying a bill can take two clicks.

●      Financial Situation Flexibility: Some patients need to pay their bills in installments. Web portals offer this feature in a way that’s easy to set up. 

●      Information Flexibility: People with vision problems can enlarge digital text easier than physical writing. Also, the web provides foreign-language speakers with accessible translation options. 

●      Technological Flexibility: Millennials prefer the internet as a payment method. 

Review for Inaccuracies

Sending an inaccurate bill is a sure way to destroy patient satisfaction. Unfortunately, recent trends have shown an increase in invoicing mistakes. Health professionals estimate that 80% of medical bills contain some error. Such problems lead patients to mistrust providers and can disrupt income flow. 

To avoid these mistakes, keep consistent billing and coding standards. Review physician notes carefully to determine what services you’ve provided. Hold internal audits to ensure that your staff is following procedures. 

Promote Automatic Payment Notifications

Consistently tracking when payments are due and following up is a time-consuming endeavor. Save significant human resources by signing patients up to receive automatic payment reminders. 

Automatic notification systems offer multiple ways to contact people about their bills. Well-designed notifications deliver a personal, human touch. This style gently prompts patients to pay without requiring staff oversight. 

When weighing your payment collection options, consider involving professional help. AnodynePay has consistently improved practices’ collection speeds since its inception. Our comprehensive program offers online payment options and automatic reminders. Talk to a representative to learn more about our service. 

Key Takeaways

1. Be as transparent as possible early in the scheduling process. 

2. Offer online payment options to provide more flexibility. 

3. Keep consistent quality check standards to avoid billing and coding errors. 

4. Sign patients up for automatic payment reminders.