The following is a guest article by Steven Dubner, Vice President of Product Management at Nordis Technologies
No matter how exemplary the clinical care, overall patient experience and satisfaction often hinge on the last interactions with providers—billing and payments. But many patients are, in fact, unhappy with the current state: 49% of all adults and 74% of millennials would consider switching providers for a better payment experience, according to InstaMed’s 2021 annual consumer survey on healthcare payments.
To improve this critical financial experience, healthcare technology and revenue cycle leaders are digitally transforming their patient billing and payments with cloud-based customer communications management platforms. Omnichannel CCM technology gives providers and revenue cycle management firms the control and flexibility to cater to patient communications preferences, increasing financial engagement and lowering barriers to payment. For example, 51% of patients say they would pay their bills faster if they received a payment reminder text, according to Salucro’s 2023 Trends in Patient Payment Communications Report.
“Patient experience is everything, and that includes financial experience. If they get a bill and they don’t know why, they may forget about all the good things they experienced during care,” said Anne Goodwill Pritchett, MPA, FHFMA, Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations for Hackensack Meridian Health. “We believe caring for our patients includes the financial experience, and it is our goal to make receiving and paying bills easier and more personalized.”
CCM platforms also can deliver important operating efficiencies through automation, and they cut printing, paper, and postage costs as more patients move to digital interactions. With easy-to-use dashboards, CCM software streamlines developing and distributing digital and print statements and other financial communications and disclosures while improving productivity and employee experience.
5 Keys to a State-of-the-Art CCM Platform
To maximize the benefits, power, and scalability of a cloud CCM system, healthcare technology and RCM executives should look for five key capabilities:
Omnichannel Development and Delivery
Many RCM companies and providers fail to meet patient needs and expectations with their current billing and payment approaches. A 2022 InstaMed survey found that 67% of consumers want digital and electronic payment options, such as receiving eStatements and paying online. However 78% of providers still primarily collect from patients with paper and manual processes.
By leveraging a cloud CCM platform to offer print/mail, email, and text messaging options, providers and RCM leaders can quickly close these gaps to give patients the billing and payment experiences they want. What’s more, the technology enables billers to automate any mix of communication channels for each patient, from mailed statements to payment alerts by text and emailed payment confirmations.
To consolidate and simplify the process further, a few CCM solution vendors offer integrated digital and print production and delivery, including mailing services. By integrating composition capabilities with execution, healthcare billers control and automate every step from a single platform while also eliminating the need to share patient health information with multiple vendors.
Personalization
Offering multiple channels is a big step in the right direction, but it’s not enough to deliver the personal financial experience that patients want. For that, RCM firms and providers need to leverage CCM platforms to also customize the content of their patient financial communications.
To do so, healthcare leaders collaborate with their CCM platform vendor to create a content library with text, logos, images, and more. They also develop document templates to serve all provider brands and communication programs, with tables and business logic that automate how preset document fields and communication types are filled in. Upon receiving the data, the system dynamically merges all the elements to personalize each letter, email, or text message, from account number to a breakdown of charges to the due date and so on.
Automation & Existing System Integration
A mere 7% of revenue cycle executives are very satisfied with their patient-facing financial processes and technology, with nearly half saying insufficient automation is a top barrier to change, according to a 2023 study by Waystar and The Health Management Academy.
With cloud CCM software, healthcare billers automate manual operations for composing and distributing patient financial communications, driving greater productivity, accuracy, and speed. Equally important, CCM systems should work well with the biller’s on-premise or cloud accounting, ERP, or other systems, enabling seamless data exchange to support creating and tracking patient statements and payments. To this end, some CCM platforms accept document files in multiple formats including APIs, batch STP, and print-ready PDFs.
The best CCM systems also make it easy for multiple business users to review documents, secure sign-offs, make disclosure changes, track distribution, generate reports, archive and retrieve documents, and create audit trails. Some platforms enable RCM firms and providers to automate and manage secure opt-in for electronic delivery and return mail processing.
HIPAA Compliance and Security/Privacy Controls
Not all CCM platforms have been designed for healthcare purposes. It’s essential to verify that a CCM tech provider’s systems, processes, and production facilities are HIPAA-compliant and offer a secure business environment that includes SOC2 Type II certification.
Integration with Payment Portals and Payment Processing
Patients are looking for convenience and ease of use, so removing steps in the billing and payment process can prompt payment and improve cash flow. Some CCM platforms give billers the ability to add QR codes and digital links to print and email statements and text messages. They also automate electronic presentations in payment portals so patients can see their bills and manage their accounts online.
In addition to identifying CCM solutions with these 5 key capabilities, RCM firms and providers need to consider operating models. Cloud CCM providers tend to fall into two main options: Hosted managed service or software as a service. As with any technology investment, billers need to weigh how much support they need and want from their CCM tech provider during implementation and initial training, ongoing operations, and tech updates.
In general, CCM-hosted managed services are more comprehensive, including the software, operating environment, a set of services, and service level agreements. They support companies with upgrades, maintenance, and integration of software to create better workflows. This option ensures revenue cycle staff gets up and running quickly and effectively on the platform, optimizes platform use, and troubleshoots any problems.
With 63% of providers experiencing RCM staffing shortages, a CCM solution that improves both employee experience and patient financial experience can quickly deliver an outsized return. The right CCM platform can confer a major strategic advantage, increasing loyalty and trust among staff and patient populations while lowering costs and accelerating revenue collection.
About Steven Dubner
Steven Dubner leads Nordis Technologies’ strategy and product development and delivery, enhancing current communications and payments technologies and developing new solutions to improve client performance. Steve was VP of payment products for Jack Henry’s Payrailz and senior director of product management and development for EverView, formerly OSG.
It’s true that the last interaction with a patient is often the bill, but the financial interaction begins at registration and sometimes before if the patient is seeking a good faith estimate (GFE). These encounters can shape the rest of the patient experience by building or eroding trust. Is the GFE online the same as what is given over the phone? Is the staff courteous and respectful? Did the staff explain co-pay expectation at the time of service? It’s important to test your entire system at these initial encounters for both accuracy and service. If you lose the patient trust here, you will have difficulty getting it back.
Great point Kristin! How many organizations are doing GFE?