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DON’T BE THE LAST ONE TO THE PARTY: 4 WAYS TO INCREASE PATIENT COLLECTIONS TODAY

Jennifer Leon
May 25, 2023
Business management Revenue cycle

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Reading Time: 4 minutes

Let’s face it: healthcare — and particularly post-acute providers — have
traditionally been late to the party when it comes to the right tools and
technology to make things easier, and billing is no different.

All of the surrounding industries, for example, have adopted the simple step of
keeping a card on file, which virtually guarantees payment and also saves a ton
of time and effort in the collections game.  Even healthcare practices from
pediatricians and vision clinics to dentists and audiologists have adopted this
approach and are reaping the benefits of getting paid sooner without all the
extra labor resources. And that’s just one of several ways to help you increase
patient collections. So why aren’t we doing this in the post-acute world?

The short answer is that some of you are but all of you should. And here’s why.
Staff are expensive. By using technology and artificial intelligence – instead
of adding staff — to fill in the gaps and streamline your revenue cycle
management, your patient collections will be faster, easier and bigger. And that
technology is already available today and getting stellar results.

Here are 4 ways that you can start increasing patient collections today.

 1. Keep a card on file. This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to
    help ensure profitability, but that’s not the only reason you need to adopt
    the card on file approach.
    
    
    
    It’s so much cheaper.  A lot of providers I talk to are afraid to spend the
    money, but the card on file method saves your business money. You save all
    the time and labor resources as well as the overhead costs of having to have
    a human chase the payment after the fact.  On top of that, the USPS raised
    postage rates again — with a first-class stamp now costing $.63 — and that
    doesn’t count the paper and the labor it costs to send a bill.
    
    It’s still personalized. Many people believe that patients aren’t notified
    that their debit, credit or HSA/FSA card is going to be charged, but that’s
    just not true. With Brightree Patient Collections, we always give a 10- to
    20-day notice to patients before their card is charged, which allows plenty
    of time to ask questions about a bill.
    
    It means no delays. Think about your billing relationship with Netflix and
    Amazon. You can’t utilize their services without having a card on file
    because it ensures payment for services rendered – and it speeds up delivery
    for the consumer. Now think about recurring patient supplies and rental
    equipment. When you offer this as a service, you need a way to ensure you
    get paid for that very expensive equipment and supplies. By making sure a
    card is secured, everyone wins. The patient encounters no delays, and the
    provider gets paid.
    
    It gets you paid on time.  Getting paid on time is now very much expected in
    revenue cycle management, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up for asking
    patients to pay for services required to maintain your cash flow. By
    treating your patients as you would a commercial payer just like Cigna and
    Blue Cross, you can collect what you’re owed. And by using the card on file
    method, what you’re owed will also be paid on time.
    
    It increases your profitability. Period. Many providers who first come to
    talk to us are only collecting 40-50% of their patients’ copays. That’s not
    a winning percentage for any business. Collections jump to the 70s when they
    start using some of our services. And then when they start keeping a card on
    file for any recurring patient needs, whether that be service or equipment,
    provider collection rates jump to well into the 90s. In fact, seeing
    collections up to 97% is not unusual and completely attainable. Providers
    need to find a more cost-effective, efficient and sustainable way to collect
    for services, and sending out snail mail (and waiting for a payment to be
    sent back) is not the answer.

 2. Make it easy for your patients to pay. If you’ve like me, when you go online
    to try to pay a healthcare bill, it’s typically difficult to find the bill
    pay site because it’s buried within several menus. During COVID, we knew
    providers were running lean, so we rolled out an IVR Payment line, which is
    simply an 800 number that is printed on the patient bill. They can call 24 x
    7 to make a payment rather than trying to navigate making the payment
    online. And the value of this service is proving to be big – with providers
    saving on average 10 hours a month and collecting on average $25 for every
    $1 spent.
 3. Send a reminder. Most providers tell me they simply don’t have the staff to
    handle outreach calls to patients about their outstanding bills. With
    artificial technology, you can place the calls automatically. In fact,
    providers using our Virtual Agent service report saving on average 15 hours
    per month because staff members no longer need to try to squeeze in these
    calls. In fact, Comprehensive Sleep Care Centers says they would have to
    hire another staff member to handle the tens of thousands of reminder calls
    that Virtual Agent handles for them each year. And this method takes the
    chase out of chasing down payments with an increase in collections of $9 for
    every $1 spent.
 4. Don’t sweat the details. Some providers are worried about losing control of
    patient collections, but that simply isn’t the case with the right service.
    At Brightree Patient Collections, for example, we provide a dashboard so
    that the provider has access to all the details. And our customers report
    that being able to monitor but not having to manage the details brings them
    comfort and trust along with the results.

It’s time for healthcare — and post-acute providers in particular — to catch up
with other industries. If you’re not providing all the ways that a patient can
pay and ensuring that you can secure your assets, then you’re already behind.
The good news is that the tools and technology are already here to streamline
your revenue cycle management and make it easier for you to collect from your
patients. And the results make it a must.


JENNIFER LEON, VICE PRESIDENT OF BRIGHTREE PATIENT COLLECTIONS

JENNIFER LEON IS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF BRIGHTREE PATIENT COLLECTIONS, WHERE SHE
LEADS A TEAM OF EXPERTS IN HELPING PROVIDERS COLLECT AND RETAIN MORE PRIVATE
PAY. JENNIFER HAS HELD A SUCCESSION OF POSITIONS ENABLING HER TO DEVELOP A DEEP
UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRIVATE PAY COLLECTION PROCESS, INCLUDING THE BEST
PRACTICES FOR OPTIMAL OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE. SHE SERVES ON THE MEDTRADE
EDUCATION ADVISORY COUNCIL AND IS A FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR TO HME NEWS’ SMART TALK
AND HOMECARE MAGAZINE AND TO THE SPEAKING CIRCUIT AT NATIONAL AND STATE SHOWS.


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