Four ways innovative payment solutions can help healthcare providers

Healthcare payments in the US are often complex, time-intensive, and costly – for both patients and providers. Clinics, hospitals, and specialty medical practices often struggle to make the billing and payment process easy for all parties involved. As a result, patients often feel frustrated paying their medical costs and may even switch providers to find a better payments experience. That’s why it is critical for healthcare systems to invest in integrated digital payment solutions that streamline financial operations, eliminate manual processes, and reduce processing costs.

Traditionally, patients receive paper bills in the mail after visiting a healthcare provider and must pay these by check – in the mail or in person. Not only is this time-intensive and cumbersome for patients, but also requires manual receipt and reconciliation by administrative staff once they receive bill payment. Here are four innovative healthcare payments options to consider instead:

Automated posting

Healthcare systems across the country are realizing the benefits of reducing manual processes for billing, collecting, and reconciling patient medical costs. According to a recent survey of providers, 38% are prioritizing digitizing and automating their billing process to improve the patient experience. That’s why you should choose a merchant processing solution that allows automatic posting into your practice management system – at the same time, reducing manual entry processes for recording patient bills and payments

Phone payments

Mobile phone ownership in the US is nearly ubiquitous – with 97% of adults owning a mobile phone of any kind, and 85% owning smartphones. This means that creating phone-based healthcare payment processes will greatly increase access for patients and increase the likelihood of quick payment. Whether patients want to pay by phone call or over a text message, there are huge advantages for providers too – with a web-based payment processing solution, staff can take calls from any workstation and input payment information in real-time.

Online payments

US patients are readily embracing online payment options from healthcare providers – research shows that nearly one third of American consumers used an online portal to pay a medical bill in 2022, and experts expect this number to rise in coming years. Consider how your practice can adopt an online payment platform to allow patients to pay quickly, easily, and from anywhere – while also freeing up your administrative staff for other responsibilities.

Recurring payments

As more patients pay out of pocket for medical expenses, there is a greater need for flexible payment options. According to recent research, 68% of consumers want to pay their medical bills by scheduling automatic deductions for recurring payments, rather than alternative methods. Choose a payment platform that allows patients to set scheduled payments and securely stores their payment information.

Healthcare payments don’t have to be painful – consider making investments in these innovative digital payments solutions to improve the patient and provider experience.