Medical Providers Need to Embrace Digital Payments – Renal and Urology News

Findings from the 2023 Future of Payments Survey published by the corporate disbursement platform Onbe suggest that digital payments continue to drive US consumer preferences in today’s economy. The survey showed that 70% of respondents prefer to receive payments digitally, and 73% prefer to shop and pay with digital methods, including in-app and peer-to-peer payments.

Onbe’s second annual survey comes at a time when understanding how consumers’ preferences for digital payments solutions is a significant issue. With myriad new options, many physician practice groups are trying to figure out the right mix of payment forms to meet the needs of their patients. Many medical practices, however, may not be overly excited about changing some long-held traditions. “Quite simply, we find that habit is the biggest barrier for providers to adopt digital payments. Checks are a legacy payment technology and preferred because they’re comfortable for many people, both health care providers and payers,” said Melissa Hentschel, Chief Client Officer at Onbe.

Training staff and providing the education to patients may seem burdensome at first, but the convenience and efficiency may prove more than worth it in the long term, Hentschel said.“If we want to provide the fast, secure and convenient payment methods that we know people want, but in an industry comfortable with checks, then we must promote a shift in mindset and provide better education,” she said.

During January 2023, the survey asked 1230 consumers 29 questions seeking to identify their payment preferences. The participants were asked what they value most when receiving payments from businesses and transferring money. Other questions covered which payment technologies they plan to try and which ones they plan to use less frequently.

The survey showed that 48% of consumers reported that global payment capabilities and the ability to exchange their payments to a foreign currency are important and valuable. ‍The survey showed that 63% of consumers believe digital payments are the most secure as opposed to other forms of payments, including money order, cash, or check.‍

Interestingly, nearly one-fourth of respondents said they plan to use cash less frequently or not at all in 2024. Just 8% said they planned to use cash more in 2024, down from one-third in 2022. Each month, more companies are going cashless and that is a trend that is not expected to change, only accelerate due to consumer preferences for fast, secure, and easy digital options.

“Digital payments enable physicians and health care organizations to reduce their costs, improve patient experience, and streamline back-office payouts, while offering popular lower-cost payment options, such as virtual cards and digital wallet payouts,” Hentschel said. 

Lower Fraud Risk

By replacing checks with more secure payment methods, providers can also lower their fraud risk and the high costs of managing fraud incidents, according to Hentschel. “The cost of writing checks can be as high as $12 per check, and sending checks has the highest labor cost compared to other common forms of payment,” she said. “When checks go uncashed, health care organizations are responsible for following up with patients and adhering to their state’s escheatment regulations, if funds remain unclaimed.”

Health care providers have an opportunity to streamline the payment experience by leveraging new payment technologies. In most clinicians’ offices, a check or credit card at the end of the visit is common. “But if that payment is part of an overpayment and leads to an eventual refund, you may not see a check for a few weeks,” Hentschel said. “We want to enable providers to make the refund experience as convenient, simple and fast as the payment experience.”

Faster Payments, Reduced Costs

Tom Furr, CEO of PatientPay, a digital payment platform that focuses on specialty groups, said by leveraging digital payment models, medical groups can receive payments faster, create more positive patient experiences, and reduce costs associated with paper statements. “Our client groups see reductions in the cost of paper statements from 40% to 50%,” Furr said. “Postage costs continue to rise, so by going paperless practices are being more efficient in collections, while seeing substantial cost reduction.”

 His company has found that 71% of patients who pay via their platform do so via a mobile device within 14 days. Since paper statements normally take at least 7 to 10 days to arrive, this faster payment helps with tighter cash flow. Patients who use the company’s platform can pay their co-pays with an existing card-on-file, expediting the payment process and making for a better user experience, Furr said.

Document Confusion

Patients want to pay their health care bills if a procedure is not covered by insurance, Furr said, but there is often confusion between a separate paper explanation of benefits (EOB) from their payer and patient statements from their provider. “These separate documents are formatted differently and arrive on different days,” Furr said. “Clinicians should partner with technology vendors with the capability to include electronic EOB with the health care statement so patients can review both at the same time.”

Patients are more likely to pay their bill when there is clarity and transparency on their statements. Paul Troutt, vice president of product management at Relatient, an intelligent patient scheduling and engagement technology company, said in today’s fast-paced digital age, mobile technology continues to transform various industries, and health care payments are no exception. “There are many benefits to both the patient and the organization as well as increased efficiencies for administrative staff,” Troutt said.

Health care providers need to take a multi-faceted and omni-channel approach and meet people where they are when it comes to payments, according to Troutt. They can do this by providing multiple payment modalities (such as credit card, check, Apple Pay, Google Pay) and providing multiple ways for a person to pay a bill.

“Automated, digital payment reminders, providing recurring payment plans, and offering multiple payment modalities allows patients multiple ways to settle their bills that best suits their situation, which improves an organization’s bottom line,” Troutt said. “People expect digital capabilities in health care, and digital payment programs should be part of an organization’s normal operations, and if they aren’t, patients will choose to go elsewhere.”