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Role of Patient Payment Plans in Achieving Better Practice Revenue Cycle


Recent changes in the medical industry have rendered patients more responsible financially for health care services provided to them. As evident in several industries, health care also is seen to be keen on finding ways to speed up payment collection process in order to accomplish financial stability. Here’s where every practice feels the need for Proactive Payment Plans!

Practice-specific Patient Payment Plans for Collecting More

With individuals’ responsibility in payment toward health care services rising in unprecedented manner, medical practices had better take proactive steps needed to enable patients to pay up. Customized payment plans reduce the patients’ anxiety, educate them about their payment liability, and offer flexible payment options.

Automated collection and pre-arranged payment plans ensure that patients are at ease and practices are financially well off. This way, payments can be processed on time while staff intervention need can be reduced.

Significance of Payment Plans in Your Practice’s Revenue Cycle Strategy

The amount lost by hospitals and physicians by way of unpaid bills is staggering. Practices across the world are being pushed to write off or send for collection huge amounts of money every year in this regard. As with most entities, health care facilities too have started realizing the importance of improving their payment collection process for keeping financial balance.

There is a general awakening among health care facilities toward the need for focusing on updating billing practices for efficiently meeting the changes in payment for services. One major area that needs to be captured for avoiding revenue loss caused by unpaid bills is learning to offer comprehensive payment plans options to patients.

Essentials of Payment Policies

Your practice’s payment policy must allow patients to understand what is expected of them by you. Creating a well-crafted policy helps prevent patients from being taken by surprise about financial obligation at the point of service. Moreover, the practice gets legal protection when patients fail to pay the amount they owe. Payment plans must be tailored to practices, ensuring that the following elements are addressed:

  • Date of service and payment due date
  • Who is the person responsible for payment
  • The way of handling deductibles and co-pays
  • Payment options available in the practice
  • Non-payment policy of the medical practice

Payment policies may describe discounts possible for self-pay patients. It is really amazing to realize how patients are grateful for discounts and the extent to which discounts help improve your cash flow.

Future Trends in Revenue Cycle Management of Medical Practices

Enabling patients to make use of self-service payment methods is the means to improve practice cash flow in future. Supposed to represent a major portion of patient payments, self-service payment methods are expected to bring a positive impact on payment collection by helping patients to pay with comfort.

When you have predetermined parameters for patient payment plans in place in tune with your practice rules, it is possible for patients to manage payment plan online by using software tools. Furthermore, it allows patients who want to get the payment process finished quickly to obtain online payment solutions, enabling you to focus on those who require assistance.

It is good business sense to establish flexible and effective payment plans and accomplish improved collection. Rapid Care has been offering comprehensive revenue cycle management services to medical practices of all sizes. Visit our website www.rapidcare.net for more details.