How Patient Financing Services Maximizes Cash Flow for Healthcare Providers
One of the most challenging issues for health systems is ensuring prompt payment of patient bills while maximizing revenue. It’s no secret that the rise in healthcare costs have largely outpaced average wages. Over the past year, premiums for family coverage rose 5% whereas workers’ wages only increased by 3.4%, according to Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2019 Employer Health Benefits Survey.
As a result, millions of Americans struggle to pay their out-of-pocket medical expenses, even if they have a health savings account debit card at the ready. For patients, a credit card and savings account just isn’t enough. For health organizations, moving these lost payments to bad debt can create serious financial issues.
So what actions can health systems take when patients are unable to pay? Traditionally, debt loads are sent to collection agencies and providers are thrust into a vicious cycle that is both costly and likely harmful to the overall patient experience.
The good news is that modernized solutions from AccessOne can help you up the dose of your financial best practices.
An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure
The best solution to the ailment of collections and other health insurance hassles is eliminating the condition before it begins. As a medical professional or financial officer in the healthcare industry, you’ve likely heard about patient financing services. If you’ve been reluctant to deal with the assumed hassles associated with third-party lending, AccessOne offers a viable option that can revolutionize your patient care through innovative customer service.
Let’s look under the microscope.
Patient financing services refer to a range of financial solutions offered to patients to help them manage the cost of medical treatments and procedures. This enables healthcare providers to ensure that their patients can afford the care they need. Having an agile financial assistance system in place at the time of service can unlock new levels of patient satisfaction and revenue.
Imagine a future where patients can handle their bills right from their smart devices with just a tap. That future exists today.
Patient Financing as a Solution
With AccessOne, there is a viable alternative to the collections route that more hospitals like The University of Mississippi Medical Center are adopting in their communities: third-party patient financing.
Patient financing allows for healthcare providers to receive prompt payment while patients can arrange their payment plan directly with a third party. Because patient financing companies are focused on enhancing the patient financial experience, they are able to supply flexible terms in repayment, including zero-interest plans and a range of lower monthly payment plans with low interest. Additionally, these companies can provide patients with longer repayment terms than traditional credit programs.
This can be especially helpful for patients who do not receive payment plan options from their healthcare providers. In a recent survey by AccessOne, less than 14% of U.S. adults were receiving a low-interest or zero-interest payment plan through their healthcare provider. Bringing in a third-party patient financing solution helps bridge the payment divide between patients and providers. By receiving the benefit of flexible and affordable payment terms, patients are more likely to pay in full.
Partnering with a patient financing company helps healthcare providers maximize their revenue, reduce costs of collections, and allows employee resources to focus on higher priority initiatives. Health systems can maintain financial health, andkeep their focus on clinical care while increasing patient satisfaction and loyalty.
Patient Financing Services = Happy Patients & Retention
Caring for people is why you became a provider. But for patients, care means more than an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan. Modern consumer trends have influenced every type of transaction and studies have shown that health care providers who offer easy payment options will keep their patients (paying customers) longer.
In many cases, patients are worried more about healthcare costs, insurance coverage, and deductibles than they are about feeling better. This has become the key driver of change for any office. Thus, a positive outcome for patients is not just about feeling well, it’s about experiencing seamless patient financial services.
In a sense, the Hippocratic Oath should also apply to a patient’s hospital bill. The dread associated with opening that envelope can be unbearable. Many patients turn to their credit card as a way out but then face high interest rates.
A credit card is often the last option for patients facing a healthcare bill, but thanks to our Flex lending solution, patients don’t have to scramble for their credit card, debit cards, or miracles from their insurance plans.
At AccessOne, we can help you “do no harm” with our Flex patient financing services. What makes this superior to other financing options? All patients qualify. They also enjoy 0% interest forever, even with emergency care. And the best part? Payment arrangements are fully customizable. No patient is the same. And offering a financial assistance policy as empathetic and flexible as ours can boost patient satisfaction (not to mention your positive cash flow).
Bringing Patients and Providers Together
At AccessOne, each of our payment plans are tailored to the financial goals of both patients and providers. Founded by providers, AccessOne focuses on providing a patient-focused experience that allows millions of consumers to afford out-of-pocket medical expenses across the country. All patients qualify for AccessOne’s programs with no credit reporting or negative outcomes. Navigating the modern healthcare landscape will require patience, flexibility, and creativity.
Using a third-party patient financing company, like AccessOne, will help providers and patients realize their shared goals of accessible and affordable patient care. Don’t you deserve that? Don’t your patients?
