Patient payments – no longer the step-child of revenue streams
Patient payments are the step-child of revenue streams. They get the least attention and are difficult to deal with. Much of patient AR (accounts receivable) is written off (30% in some settings, JP Morgan). The cost-to-collect patient AR is often higher - stuffing envelopes and making phone calls is less efficient than electronic claim submission. And most pharmacy software has only basic functionality focused on patient payments.
But we’re living in a world where pharmacies can no longer ignore patient cash flow. Patients now account for a bigger slice of the reimbursement pie. Since 2006, high deductible health plans (HDHP’s) have increased sevenfold (Self-Pay Patient Financial Liability, HFMA.org). In addition, eroding reimbursement from the traditional insurances payers means patient pay is back in the spotlight.
To solve the patient payments riddle, SuiteRx partnered with AR Proactive. AR Proactive is an automated invoicing and payment tool to increase patient payments. It works by automatically following up on unpaid bills with a series of letters with appropriate wording, a payment portal for patients, reminder phone calls, emails, payment plans, and one-click to send accounts to the collections agency team.
A McKinsey study asked patients why they don’t pay (The Next Wave of Change for Healthcare Payments). The reasons are fixable, and so SuiteRx and AR Proactive decided to partner to address the causes. Through the integration of these companies, billing staff can now electronically submit patient statements for payment and resolution, while CFO’s can monitor the activity from a patient AR dashboard. “The goal is increased patient payments – with ease,” comments Nick Zener, SuiteRx’s CEO. “So think of it as automated workflows for patient AR,” concludes Rich Handler, AR Proactive’s founder.
Finally, we may see patient payments restored as a respectable revenue stream. And for some pharmacies, it may be the cash-flow life-saver they’ve been looking for.
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