How do you communicate with your patients about payment responsibility? With the growing trend in patient responsibility, providers need to think about when and how to discuss financial responsibility with patients. Training your staff to have conversations about co-pays, outstanding balances and estimates while the patient is in the office is a critical part of increasing your collections. Having these conversations is a great way to set patient expectations, but it’s also important to have effective communication once the patient leaves the office. Most providers mail paper statements to their patients to communicate their balance owed for a visit, but others have adopted email communication of electronic statements along with electronic collection methods. These methods alone, however, may not be enough.
Consider this:
- 91 percent of adult Americans own mobile phones – Pew Research Center
- The average American sends and receives 32 texts per day – Informate Mobile Intelligence
- 90 percent of text messages are read within three minutes of delivery – mobileSQUARED
Similar to how providers must capitalize on the many different payment channels available to consumers, providers also must meet the convenience demands of consumers when it comes to communication. With InstaMed, providers can use text messaging at no additional cost to them to reach their patients wherever they are. Text alerts remind patients of statement availability or if payment for recurring payments is about to be deducted.
New Message: Your healthcare bill is now available to view. Click here to pay now.
When your patients receive a text message notifying them that payment is due, they can click on the link that takes them to your patient portal, where they can pay immediately. They can also store their payment information securely in a digital wallet to make future payments even easier. Text messaging drives adoption of online payments because the process is so simple. You benefit because when your patients pay online, you are able to collect quickly at a low cost to your business. You also have the ability to track all of your patients’ online payment activity with transaction level detail, summary and detailed reporting.
Patient communication doesn’t have to stop at text messaging. Providers can highlight available payment options on every patient communication to help drive online payment adoption. With each transaction, include information to remind your patients that they have the ability to manage and pay their healthcare expenses online by including a link to your online patient portal and encouraging patients to pay now.
As more patients begin to pay online, you will see an increase in your collections, all with minimal overhead and no additional costs to collect.
Learn more about patient communication and online payment solutions.