Higher Patient Costs Mean New Focus to Patient Payments

TransUnion Healthcare on Tuesday released a report showing patient deductibles and out-of-pocket costs both increased by 13% between 2014 and 2015.

“It’s clear that patients are becoming the new payer – a major source for payments to hospitals at both the time of service and after procedures,” said Jonathan Wiik, principal for revenue cycle management at TransUnion Healthcare, in a press release. “As hospitals navigate this new era of patient payments, we expect to see them provide more financing options to help patients meet their financial obligations.”

Hospitals are taking proactive measures in order to assure payments are received, including:

• Financing options to help consumers make their payments
• Assessing patients’ abilities to pay
• Engaging in financial discussions prior to treatment

See TransUnion’s full report here.

Believe it or not, checks are still in the mix for patient payments both at the point of patient engagement as well as via mail with coupons/remittances. Making sure the paper-based payments are processed accurately and immediately is critical to minimizing posting errors, optimizing receivables, and reducing the chances of experiencing overdraft checks.

Now more than ever, effective and flexible patient payment mechanisms are vital to optimizing a more patient-centered billing environment. Whether this be done with a lock-box service, or via a cloud-based solution like the Healthcare Payment Automation Center (HPAC), attention to this area will provide financial benefits to the provider.