3 tools providers can adopt to boost patient satisfaction and collection rates

Anthony Lucatuorto:©Sphere

Today’s consumers live in a world where they can order toothpaste, schedule an oil change, and book a cruise with just a few keystrokes or screen taps. With busy schedules and many priorities to manage, convenience is a gamechanger. The same holds true for health care. When health care providers adopt digital engagement, billing and payment solutions—from self-scheduling to pre-service estimates and check ins to post-visit payment plans—patients appreciate how seamless and convenient the experience can be.

In health care, in contrast to other industries, patients may encounter surprise high-cost bills, confusion over what their payment options are, uncertainty about how much they owe and why they owe it.

For example, 58% of U.S. adults said paying medical bills is stressful, while 55% said simply understanding what they owe is a source of stress, according to the 2024 Healthcare Financial Experience Study, which surveyed 1,200 American consumers.

These issues may grow more serious in the future, as 48% of respondents said their health care costs had increased in the prior year and 59% said they are worried about paying their medical bills in the next year.

Many consumers find health care confusing because prices and rates can vary so widely - even when two similar patients obtain the same service from the same provider - because of differences in insurance benefits, deductibles, copays, and out-of-pocket maximums. As a result, it can be difficult for providers to give comprehensive pre-service price estimates to patients, forcing patients to make hard decisions about obtaining or foregoing care without understanding how it will affect them financially.

The good news, however, is that this appears to be changing. Providers are increasingly eager to say goodbye to manual and inefficient processes and embrace more modern digital tools. When providers adopt digital tools such as self-service appointment scheduling, online payment tools, and pre-visit cost estimates, they can deliver a superior, more transparent retail-line consumer experience that promotes greater patient satisfaction and increases the likelihood of prompt collections.

Transparent and consumer-friendly
Providers who offer the type of engaging retail-like experience that consumers have come to expect from other industries stand to benefit with higher patient volumes and more productive staff who are free to devote more time to direct patient care. Following are three digital tools providers can adopt that are flexible, modern, and convenient, delivering greater transparency and consumer-friendliness to patients.

Self-scheduling. Providers can deliver a patient experience more consistent with modern consumer expectations by offering self-scheduling capabilities. With self-scheduling functionality, providers are able to integrate scheduling into other segments of their digital ecosystem. Additional benefits include freeing staff for higher-value, patient-facing activities, increasing patient satisfaction, reducing data-entry errors and, potentially, adding greater confidentiality to the process.

Pre-appointment communication. Sending automated appointment reminders prior to virtual or office visits increases convenience for patients. Pre-appointment reminders enable staff to devote time to more value-creating activities than manually calling, texting, and emailing patients, while also reducing the likelihood of skipped and missed appointments. Communication prior to appointments may also include pre-service check-ins, in which patients are sent a message to confirm important information: demographic information, insurance and benefits coverage, copay and service amount estimate based on visit type. Other pre-appointment services providers can offer include sending patients driving and parking directions, as well as intake forms to be completed prior to arrival at the appointment.

Post-visit payment plans. When providers haven’t collected prior to service, they can increase the likelihood of payment post-service by offering multiple payment plan options. One consumer survey showed that patients who use payment plans are much more likely to pay their bills in full and on schedule, with 76% of patients who use payment plans saying they would complete the payments on time. Payment plans offer the benefit of giving patients a greater sense of control while enabling providers to free staff resources that otherwise would go toward collections.

With modern and convenient tools that reverse health care’s digital deficiencies, providers can improve the patient journey while driving higher patient satisfaction and loyalty.

Anthony Lucatuorto, is chief executive officer of Sphere, powered by TrustCommerce.