October 12, 2012 •Brian Watson
Traditional patient statements perform a critical function. They inform. They collect. They keep your organization awash in the cash that it’s owed.
But – dirty little secret – there’s a limit to their effectiveness.
Let’s face it: there’s only so much space on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper. Duplexing and additional pages can be effective, but they’re also pricy. Payment stubs aren’t exactly real-time or patient friendly. And envelope room – like page space – is limited.
That doesn’t mean that good statement design isn’t fundamentally important. We tend to blog about the subject – a lot – for good reason.
And it’s not an indictment of traditional statement processing, either. According to a 2010 InstaMed survey, only 9% of healthcare providers’ total patient payment dollar amount came from online sources. So it’s still obviously really, really important.
But the limitations of paper statements are no less real. They lack space, capabilities, resources - everything from greater detail on transaction and charge info, to frequently asked billing questions, to progressive payment and support channels. And those shortcomings contribute to big patient billing headaches: confusion, frustration, slow payment.
For example: a third of patients reported that they would need to contact patient services to resolve a billing question, according to the 2011 Connance Consumer Impact Study. That slows payment and adds collection expense.
And data from the Intuit 2010 Financial Healthcare Check-up echoes that confusion, with 16% of patients reporting that they couldn’t understand procedure descriptions on their bills, and 17% saying they weren’t clear on where to make a payment.
The Future of Patient Statements
Paper patient statements are constrained by, well, the paper on which they’re printed.
But that’s not an issue for EBPP.
Put simply, eStatement solutions provide a more dynamic, in-depth, personalized, and feature-rich billing and payment experience, giving patients more information than what’s presented on paper statements and the toolset – everything from statement history to trackable messaging - that lets them dig even deeper.
In short: online payment applications go a long way to reducing billing questions and confusion. And that’s a good thing for both you and your patients.
But what tools should you be looking for? Let’s take a look at 5 capabilities that put eStatement communication head-and-shoulders above the paper alternative.
1). Transaction History. Statement presentment is standard for best-practice EBPP. But that doesn’t separate it from traditional billing. What does? A long-term transaction snapshot.
Statement history allows patients to easily access, view, print, and save prior statements from their web account. And an online record of payment activity helps fill in the blanks: providing a solid resource for patients that have questions that span multiple statements or pays.
2). Frequently Asked Questions. Although it may sound pretty simple, FAQs can be the crucial difference between receiving a payment and having to answer a billing question. They anticipate and respond to common questions and issues, making the entire process simpler and faster for patients.
That’s especially true when an FAQ is dynamic: refreshing with a new set of key questions about portal tools for each new section or page that a patient clicks through. By optimizing each page as a learning instrument, eStatement FAQs help ensure patients are both smarter about the “how-to” of application use and better understand how to self-manage future questions or issues.
3). Online Help. No matter if its paper or eStatement, patients will have billing questions. The difference between the two is how those questions are handled. Offline statement questions usually involve a phone call. Which can be pricy for you and time-consuming for you staff.
On the other hand, EBPP has efficient support tools built directly into the billing channel. Tools that give patients more control over the support request. Is it an emergency situation? Real-time chat can help your patients quickly get the resolution they need. A little less dire? Then they can use online messaging to deliver a trackable, secure support request from their EBPP portal inbox that enables them to continue the conversation with your staff on their own schedule.
4). Payment Integration. Statement payment stubs aren't exactly patient-friendly or progressive. Space is limited, so type tends to be tiny. Info blanks are cramped. And instructions are hard to decipher. Plus it requires patients buying postage. All in all, it leaves a lot to be desired.
And phone-based payment is only a slight improvement. Sure it’s quicker for patients. But it can still be a pain: Consumer Reports claims that 67% of consumers hung up on customer service without having their problem addressed in the last 12 months. Plus it siphons staff productivity and takes multiple steps to record, process, and post payment.
EBPP not only gives patients the convenience and speed of online payment, it also provides the options that they need to proactively approach the payment process. Like the ability to enroll in payment plans that you offer. Or schedule recurring payments – even before any treatment costs have been incurred. Or select payment dates and limits that can then be edited prior to processing. Or easily manage funding sources.
5). Easy Profile Updates. Patient insurance and demographic updates? They’re a lot like payment stubs in their general unfriendliness. That’s because they can usually be found crammed onto the back of the stub, similarly stretching the limits of legibility. Online bill presentment and payment applications make account updates simple by giving patients the tools to edit and add information to their profile in seconds via the web.
The bottom line: EBPP is the logical next step in the evolution of patient friendly statements. It simply provides patients with more: more info, more tools, more support. If you’re ready learn more about the technology, let us help you get started. Click here to download our free whitepaper The New Rules of Patient EBPP.
What are your patients’ biggest statement complaints? Can online bill presentment and payment help?