How to Optimize Healthcare Payment Plans for Success

Healthcare providers rely on patients for revenue. They are increasingly incorporating patient-centric practices to ensure patient satisfaction and retention. One of them is providing patients with flexible payment plans to allow them to pay medical bills off over months.

This blog shares the best strategies around medical payment plans that can help you enhance the patient experience and revenue.

1. AUTOMATE PAYMENTS

Whether you set up a payment plan for your patients during their visit or send them the statement later, securely save and authorize your payment details. You can automatically receive the payments when they are due. 

Automation streamlines the payment process because you don’t have to go through hectic administrative work. All you need to do is integrate payment plan software like Credee into your existing system and let it handle everything on your behalf.

2. ALLOW PATIENTS TO MANAGE THEIR PAYMENTS

Still, many healthcare providers have manual payment plans. It means they maintain a calendar to track payment deadlines and call patients for bill collection. Undoubtedly, all this involves an enormous amount of administrative work. 

In addition to that, manual payment collection makes for a poor patient experience because it lacks transparency. It doesn’t give complete visibility into the status of the payment plan.

• Credee is one such software that allows patients to have full visibility and control over their payments. 
• It also takes the burden off providers through its automated features. 
• Credee is an ideal solution when your patients want to make smaller payments and spread the medical bill over an extended period. 
• Providing patients with flexible options that fit their needs can reduce their stress over what may otherwise be a financial hardship.

It's a win-win for you and patients alike. Moreover, they’ll choose you over others.

3. CREATE HEALTHCARE PAYMENT PLANS FOR EVERYONE

Mainly, there are two kinds of medical payment plans:

(a) Recurring payments plans

These plans involve splitting the total amount into equal payments charged at prearranged intervals. It can be weekly, biweekly, or monthly, depending on the agreement between you and your patient.

Recurring payment plans are consistent and don’t necessarily have a defined end date. They are commonly used by dental practices as they are more convenient and affordable for patients to manage their healthcare costs. This plan ensures a regular inflow of payments and allows patients to budget for their ongoing dental or orthodontic care.

(b) Installment payment plans

These plans are designed to collect payments toward an outstanding balance. Using this plan, you allow your patients to pay bills in installments in fixed amounts until they're paid in full. Once your patients have cleared the entire balance, the plan ends. 

Installment plans are for patients who have a specific amount owed for a particular service or treatment. It provides a structured approach to gradually paying off the balance, allowing them to manage their payments effectively.

For instance, if a patient has a dental procedure costing $1000, they may opt for an installment plan. They will make monthly payments of $100 until the balance is paid off. The payment plan will terminate once the patient has cleared the total cost of $1000.

4. ALLOW MULTIPLE PAYMENT MODES

Nowadays, you need to meet your patients' expectations, considering they opt for convenience over loyalty. More than 80% of patients prefer to pay their healthcare bills online. 

So, as a provider, make the payment process more flexible for your patients by adopting the following payment methods:

• Credit cards
• Debit cards
• Checks
• Electronic fund transfers (EFTs)

To give your patients a seamless payment experience, Credee is your go-to platform. With it, you can automate the payment process rather than sending out paper bills.

5. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND REPORTING

In addition to providing customized medical payment plans or using payment plan software, you’ll want to analyze how effectively your payment plans work. 

For providers, it’s crucial to have a summary that shows which patient has a payment plan, when their payments are coming, modes of payment, etc. Through reliable tools, you can analyze patient data with a few clicks.

Using performance analysis reports, you’ll understand what’s working well and where things are lacking. You can then make adjustments to your resources to improve your practice’s overall performance.

Final Thoughts

Research shows around 79% of Americans struggle with paying medical bills. This directly affects healthcare providers. If you want to avoid lost revenue and maximize patient retention, follow these five practices. They will help you stand out in the healthcare market.