Providers are much more attuned to the importance of digital engagement and creating a positive patient financial experience before a patient ever steps through the doors for service.
According to Heather Kawamoto, VP of product strategy at Waystar, in a post-COVID-19 world in which tech giants and consumer health companies are vying for the same patients as provider organizations, having accurate pre-service information is vital to making this happen. “Automation is the best way to get there with fewer resources,” she says. Below, Kawamoto discusses how technology tools alleviate manual work across the revenue cycle and allow more proactive engagement with patients along their financial journey.
Q: What are the three most important actions that providers should take if they are looking to improve the patient’s financial experience?
A: The most important piece is first to step back and evaluate how they want to engage digitally with patients in the future. Patients’ expectations have shifted post-COVID-19. They want to engage with providers differently, having become accustomed to telehealth and the ease of Uber Eats and Amazon deliveries. Patient financial experience goals need to align with an organization’s larger patient-consumer digital strategy, especially as consumer-first entrants like CVS and Walmart make more inroads into healthcare and draw patients away.
Second, it is imperative to automate the patient’s financial experience. Given current resource constraints, including the labor shortage, providers cannot manually manage all of the work. They must choose an automation solution that best facilitates patient financial communications and collections. Finally, understanding patient demographics is essential to engaging more patients digitally and creating a positive financial experience. For example, patient communication preferences have changed substantially since the introduction of digital tools. Thus, providers will need to segment patient populations to identify communication methods that get the best response.
Q: When thinking about the patient journey, we often focus on the touchpoints in which patients actively participate. But what about other activities happening behind the scenes—such as eligibility checks and prior authorizations that also impact balances? Should providers consider this as part of the broader patient financial experience?
A: Absolutely. Legislation requirements make it critical for providers to communicate with patients as soon as possible during pre-service. Providers need to tell patients how much they can expect to pay out of pocket for their service and allow them to start paying or having a conversation. Organizations can differentiate themselves and increase loyalty by helping patients understand eligibility and prior authorization actions, which potentially impact the time in which a patient receives care.
For example, providers need to thoughtfully tell patients when a prior authorization hasn’t been secured ahead of their service and rescheduling is required. This eliminates surprises, which are a source of frustration for patients. Similarly, with eligibility, if a patient has multiple insurances, let them know and explain how you are managing the situation. That said, mindful use of technology and patient communications is key. Don’t overload patients with too much information, otherwise, they may start to ignore communications, which could impact upcoming services or their final patient responsibility.
Q: Realistically, nearly every provider is feeling the strain of understaffing. How can providers continue to improve the patient financial experience without creating additional work when they're already spread so thin?
A: When competing with other providers who make things easier for patients, it is critical to deploy more automation throughout the revenue cycle to manage workflows and scarce resources more effectively. Progressive providers now expect it will be a piece of just about every technology they buy. Automating critical processes and services allows providers to reduce friction across the patient financial experience and ultimately build trust with patients. For example, automating pre-service estimates and using analytics to segment them enables providers to push estimates to patients using their preferred communication channel and save resources by following up only with patients with a higher propensity to pay.
Q: Can you share examples of providers successfully improving the patient financial experience today?
A: Huntington Hospital is an excellent example of an organization that has seen phenomenal results with its thoughtful patient engagement strategy and rollout of patient payments. They engage patients with customized options and prioritize those with a propensity to pay to ensure they aren’t following up on bills that likely won’t be able to be paid. The Baylor Scott & White Health system in Texas is another organization that has been proactively engaging with patients for many years. They have their own mobile app serving up estimates and other information to every patient that services through one of their facilities. They are also very strategic about using their people to do outreach.
Waystar delivers cloud-based technology that simplifies and unifies the healthcare revenue cycle—and brings more transparency to the patient experience.