Patient collections has become a strategic priority for hospitals and health systems looking to re-conceive their patient financial experience and reduce revenue cycle friction.
PatientPay conducted one-on-one surveys with top revenue cycle management executives to understand their patient collection strategies. The company found executives were largely looking to improve the efficiency of their billing practices.
As patient financial obligation increases, hospitals and health systems are interfacing more than ever with patients to collect. "It was interesting to learn that most of the RCM executives we spoke with were just starting to focus on the impact of patient billing on their business," said Tom Furr, PatientPay founder and CEO. This reflects changing hospital attitudes around the importance of updating old billing practices to adapt to a new payer audience.
Currently, most hospitals and revenue cycle companies use paper-based billing processes to deliver statements to and elicit payment from patients. Paper-based processes can be inefficient, unwieldy and costly for healthcare organizations. Fortunately, many healthcare groups already use electronic systems to submit claims to insurance companies for processing and payment. This means the technology exists for hospitals to begin automating their patient billing processes.
"Automation for patient billing has not warranted attention by RCM companies, since most of their revenue has been derived from payers," one RCM company chief technology officer told PatientPay. Now that the payer make-up is changing, more hospitals, health systems and RCM firms are moving to paperless billing platforms to improve the speed and convenience of their collection practices.
More articles on revenue cycle management issues:
How to boost your bottom line with revenue cycle analytics
Best practices to improve your revenue cycle now: 3 experts weigh in
HHS hosts medical bill design contest