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Think about all of the industries that require a deposit, payment, or a payment method on file before they will perform a paid service. Anytime you go to a hotel, or have work done to your home, or even order takeout, you either need to provide a payment method or turn over cash upon delivery. Not so with healthcare. Once a patient leaves their provider’s office, there is only a 40% chance that they will pay their bill. In 30% of cases, nothing is ever paid at all. Is that any way to sustain a business?
For years, third-party payers made up over 90 percent of the payer mix. Collecting from government and private insurance payers was relatively easier, faster, and more reliable than collecting from patients. Unfortunately, now patient payments have risen to over 30% of the payer mix, and this one fact is changing the patient revenue cycle as we know it. The trend of patient-as-payer has been rising to the point that the old healthcare billing and collection model just doesn’t work. Healthcare providers need more certainty that they will receive patient payment for their care and services. So what can providers do? Three words: Card on File (COF).
It sounds like the obvious choice, but so many providers incorrectly assume patients would oppose a COF policy. Spoiler alert—COF is the #1 most patient-preferred payment method for balances under $200. If you are a provider watching your operating revenue walk out the door and cash flow shrivel with rising patient outstanding balances, it’s time to educate yourself about the Real Costs of Foregoing a COF Policy.
Coincidentally, Health iPASS has just released a whitepaper on that very topic. What?! How very timely of us. And lucky for you, because you can go and download it right now to find out why you should examine your current financial policy and how to successfully implement this kind of change in a way that engages your staff and patients. Once you examine the research (like the fact we are enabling providers to collect 97% of residual balances) , we are confident that you will soon be contacting us to schedule a demo to see how we can turn you into a patient revenue cycle rock star!
