The Millennials are Coming - How Will Your Practice Adapt to their Patient Revenue Cycle Needs?

Let’s say for a moment that your medical practice doesn’t suffer from slow and ineffective patient revenue cycle management (RCM). Your patient net collection rates are a-ok, and you laugh in the face of insurance claim denials. Why should you care about updating your RCM to an innovative, user-friendly technological platform? 

One important reason is that millennials are coming, and this generation is slated to drive a massive sweep of change through the healthcare industry.

Millennials make up the largest portion of the American workforce, outnumbering even Baby Boomers since 2016. This huge group possesses an unsurpassed level of spending power for any generation in 2018-- $3.39 trillion dollars and rising. Even more important for your practice to consider is that millennials have been raised in a digitized world. They have come to expect and even demand the convenience and ease of handling most bill payment and purchasing online or through smartphone apps. Here are a few startling statistics regarding millennials and their approach to healthcare:

• A recent Becker CFO Report stated that millennials ages 18-24 are the most likely generation to comparison shop for medical care. Translation: It may be tougher to retain them as patients in the absence of a modern patient revenue cycle solution.
• According to a 2015 Harris and Salesforce poll, 71% of millennials are more liable to choose a medical practice that allows them to manage their accounts online. Translation:  Millenials are masters of digitization and they expect digital platforms from healthcare providers.
• Over half of millennials and Gen Xers use online reviews to choose their medical providers. Translation: They listen to what others have to say about your practice.
• 52% of Gen Xers and 50% of millennials use online information when selecting medical insurance. Translation: They don't want pieces of paper, they want to do everything through digital platforms.
• Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to skip medical care and treatment that they deem as too expensive. According to Becker Hospital Review, 54 percent of millennials and 53 percent of Gen-Xers have put off care due to costs. Translation: Providing upfront price transparency helps millenials better plan for future expenses and could even change their mind about receiving medical care.

It all boils down to meeting the expectations of this new breed of healthcare consumer. The fact is that if your practice relies on an outdated patient check-in and revenue cycle management system, it is entirely possible that you will lose patients to more modernized practices. Health iPASS is the software solution that directly addresses the healthcare management needs and expectations of the generation that will soon make up the majority of your patients. Choosing Health iPASS to manage many of your front-office and patient revenue cycle needs is a great way to future-proof your practice.

Since the mid-90s we have increasingly evolved into an experience-based economy, one where the experience is worth more to consumers than the actual goods or services.  In order to stay relevant in a sea of shifting consumer expectations, you must provide an excellent patient experience that utilizes leading-edge technology rather than relying on the anachronistic paper-based practices of old. What kind of experience do your patients receive when they walk in the door of your practice?