July 11, 2012 •Brian Watson
In today’s ultra-competitive healthcare marketplace, having the ability to differentiate your organization from its competitors is incredibly important.
High-deductable and consumer-centric health savings plans are booming (up from 6.1 million in 2008 to 13.5 million in 2012, according to the most recent AHIP census). And thanks to the popularity and prevalence of online ranking and cost estimation tools, comparing and contrasting treatment quality, cost, and value is easier than ever before.
The upshot: patients are becoming better informed and more sophisticated about the treatment options available to them. And as patient consumerism develops and grows, so too does the importance of your brand (who you are, what you do, and why it matters).
So what does all that have to do with your statement design and its performance? Well, your patient statements are no different from any other part of your treatment experience: it all adds up to help differentiate your organization from its peers, establish your reputation, and validate your care experience. Offering patient statements that are bare-bones and sloppily printed, or frustratingly designed, or that feature inaccurate transaction data can harm the encounter that you’ve worked so hard to perfect. Especially as it comes at what is essentially the virtual handshake at the end of the treatment process.
Carefully planned, patient friendly statement design not only helps drive faster patient payment, it also can work to uphold (and even build upon) the value of your brand. If you’re looking for patient friendly billing that also mirrors the brilliance of your brand, you should consider these four statement design elements:
1). Color Printing: According to a University of Loyola, Maryland study, color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. Because people are so physically, socially and psychologically influenced by color, prominently featuring your brand’s color scheme is a smart, simple way to boost the overall impact of your patient statement design.
2). TransPromo Messaging. TransPromo refers to any statement design format that converts unused billing space into a cross-marketing, brand-building tool. Using variable print, location intelligence, and custom business logic, TransPromo leverages the massive reach and untapped communication potential of traditional patient statements to help transform each document into a persuasive, personal, and timely promotional appeal.
3). Logo and Brand Elements. The easiest way for patients to quickly identify and distinguish your organization by its patient statements is through your logo and brand elements. If you’re like most providers, you’ve probably worked hard to establish a visual look and feel that helps communicate and differentiate. Ensure that your statements are consistent in conveying your brand’s personality and value by mirroring common logo guidelines and design usage.
4). A Patient Friendly Billing Format. While not a design element per se, providing patients with a bill that’s clean, clear and concise is perhaps the most important way to use patient statements to further your brand. After all, your brand is the sum of all your patients’ interactions with (and opinions about) your organization. And statements that are confusing, or late, or inaccurate tend to put into jeopardy all the satisfaction and goodwill you’ve built up with them throughout the treatment process. Go simple, jargon-free, and to-the-point to make the billing process for self-pay patients as easy as possible. (And win major patient satisfaction points, too).
The takeaway: whatever patient statement design format you choose, making sure your bills are appropriately branded is as simple as combining form and functionality. The design should be beautiful enough to uphold and amplify your brand message. Plus simple and usable enough to ensure patient satisfaction with the treatment experience is upheld. If you’d like to learn more about why smart statement design is an essential revenue cycle tool, download our free statement design whitpaper today.
What non-statement design strategies is your organization using to differentiate its brand?