In this webinar slide deck, we review tips and best practices to improve your patient payment collections. This includes details on patient statement configuration and online bill payment options.

1. Taking the Pain out
of Patient Collections
Presented by:
Jason Porter, HealthCo Information Systems
Kayleen Homewood, POS Professional Office Services

2. • National Partner for
GE Healthcare
• Support thousands of
physicians in their use of the
Centricity EMR/PM platform
• Founded in 1997
• Located in Portland,
OR
• Mission to improve
patient care and
financial performance
of independent
physician practices

3. The HealthCo Team

4. >
Today’s Presenters
Kayleen Homewood
Product Manager
POS Professional Office Services
Jason Porter
Vice President
HealthCo Information Systems

5. >

6. >
Poll Question

7. Today’s Agenda
• Discuss the changing nature of
patient payments
• Tips for improving your practice’s
processes
• Wrap up /Q&A

8. The world of collecting patient
payments is changing.

9. OWE more today than ever before
WANT TO PAY differently depending on
the amount owed
DON’T UNDERSTAND their bills, insurance…
what they owe
CALL YOU when they have questions
DON’T KNOW they have options for
paying down high balances
Patients…

10. A GREATER NEED to collect payment up front
PAYMENT PLANS to administer
PAST DUE BALANCES to collect
PHONE CALLS to answer
TIME AND RESOURCE RESTRICTIONS
decreasing the number of payments you could be
taking
Your Practice Faces…

11. Financial Communication
is a Critical Driver of the
Patient Experience

12. .55 patient accounting staff per physician
1 back-end business office employee per
10,000 claims
75% don’t call delinquent accounts
of practices
Challenges to the Patient Experience
Source: MGMA, Woodcock & Associates

13. National healthcare reform measures are forcing
practices to focus on improved patient health outcomes.
Proactive vs. reactive when it comes to patient health
and wellness.
So why should your practice’s A/R be any different?
BE PROACTIVE!
Patient Health and Wellness

14. Patients Owe More
40%
$1,500-$2,000
$3,000-$6,000

15. 75% of patients can’t pay an
unexpected $1,000

16. Patients Need Options
Payment Plan
Plan Start Date:
Payment Amount:
Payment Amount:
Date of Last Payment:
$100 $100 $100
$88.25

17. Patients Need to Understand
Their responsibility
Their bills
Their options

18. You Need
To take more payments
In less time
With fewer resources

19. So What Can You Do?
Improve Your Communication

20. WHAT is your monthly outstanding A/R?
What would you like it to be?
WHAT systems are in place to collect patient-owed
balances?
What improvements could be made?
WHY do patients call with questions?
HOW are you communicating financial information?
Know Your Data and Your Goals

21. TIP #1
Start with the Welcome

22. Do you have a welcome packet?
Are you including financial communication in the
registration process?
Financial Policies
Insurance Coverage
Billing Department Information
New Patient Communication

23. • A financial
agreement or policy.
• Provide estimated
fees when possible.
Include Financial
Information in
Welcome Materials

24. Share Insurance Coverage Information

25. TIP #2
Gather Payment up Front

26. Check eligibility
Co-pays
Deposits
Set up payment plans
Card on file
Taking Payments Up Front

27. The “How” is Important
Ask with confidence
Ask “how” they would like to pay
Offer payment plans when needed

28. TIP #3
Improve Your Patient Statement

29. Does Your Statement
Look Like This?

30. >
Poll Question

31. Practice logo
Patient responsibility $$
On the portion patients mail AND on the portion they
keep
Payment due date (no aging buckets)
Fewer columns, fewer codes
Important messages
Use the back side to educate
Drive patients to pay online
Optimize Your Statement for ROI

32. Why No
Branding?

33. Brand Your
Statement
GE Centricity Custom Statement from POS
Use YOUR
Logo & YOUR
Colors!

34. Why No Due Date?
GE Centricity Statement
Why List
Aging?

35. Eliminate Aging
and Add a Due
Date!
Custom Statement from POS

36. • Diagnosis Code?
• Reference?
• Location?
Which Columns
Matter to the
Patient?

37. Use Heading
Descriptions
That Work!
Custom Statement from POS
Make the
Account
Balance Easy
to Read

38. Use the Back to Educate

39. Share Frequently
Asked Questions
(FAQs)

40. Educate Why
a Patient May Receive
Multiple Bills

41. Promote New
and Existing Services

42. TIP #4
Make it Easy for Patients to Pay
&
Make it Easy for Your Staff to Take
Payments

43. You can expect to get only 10 cents of every dollar
that remains unpaid after 120 days – no kidding.
According to the MGMA, the medical industry has
$40-$60 billion “bad” patient debt.
Practices send an average of 3.3 statements to
collect payment – by the third statement, the
chances of getting paid are drastically reduced.
Alarming Statistics

44. Drive patients to pay online
Make it Easy on Everyone

45. Drive patients to pay online
Keep online bill pay URL short
Make it Easy on Everyone

46. Your Online Bill Pay
Website is Printed on
your Patient
Statements

47. Drive patients to pay online
Keep online bill pay URL short
Make “Pay My Bill”
Easy to find
“Above the fold”
Make it Easy on Everyone

50. Drive patients to pay online
Keep online bill pay URL short
Make “Pay My Bill”
Easy to find
“Above the fold”
Enable Guest Pay
Make it Easy on Everyone

51. 3x MORE patients pay online
when Guest Pay is enabled

52. Enable Guest Pay

53. Go to: www.abcmed.com
And enter your Online Bill Pay Code:
bpc0d3
bpc0d3

54. Drive patients to pay online
Keep online bill pay URL short
Make “Pay My Bill”
Easy to find
“Above the fold”
Enable Guest Pay
Automate payment plans
Make it Easy on Everyone

55. Drive patients to pay online
Keep online bill pay URL short
Make “Pay My Bill”
Easy to find
“Above the fold”
Enable Guest Pay
Automate payment plans
Allow payments to auto-post
Make it Easy on Everyone

56. >
Poll Question

57. Online Bill Pay ROI
15% payments made online
6 minutes to take and post a payment
15 hours saved/1,000 statements sent

58. TIP #5
Implement a Past Due and Final
Notice Strategy

60. Accelerate and increase patient-owed payments.
Lower billing and collection costs.
Improve the patient experience.
Allow patients to pay and receive their statement in their
preferred method.
Reduce the number of billing-related patient calls.
Improve Your A/R with a Partner Like POS

61. About POS
PRINT
+
PATIENT PAYMENT SERVICES
+
DIGITAL MESSAGING
+
PATIENT SURVEYS
You provide the care.
We provide the communications.

62. Current HealthCo statement customers?
Current HealthCo customers using a different statement vendor?
Current HealthCo customers interested in Online Bill Pay?
Not a HealthCo customer but would like to learn more?

63. >
Contact Information
lindah@healthcosystems.com
jasonp@healthcosystems.com
For product questions and
information:
For pricing details and
questions about your
current statement program: