HFMARCC 25: Improving the Patient Experience

Health systems can deliver more consumer-friendly features to improve the patient experience without breaking the bank.

Patient experience emerged as a core theme at the 2025 HFMA Revenue Cycle Conference.

In the digital age, consumers can make major purchases and transfer balances with just a few swipes on their phones. They expect the same from their providers, but the healthcare industry has been slow to deliver.

By restructuring front-end processes, revenue cycle leaders can meet these patient  expectations without sacrificing operational efficiency or financial outcomes, according to Shannon Ducat, Associate Vice President, Patient Access, and Megan Cantu, Patient Access Manager, both from ProMedica.

Rethinking patient access workflows

When ProMedica launched a far-reaching initiative to improve the patient experience, Ducat says the patient access team asked, "What could we do better and what did our consumers expect from us?"

A wish list for a new kind of patient experience emerged. It included features like expanded payment options, streamlined check-ins, cost transparency, and enhanced digital access for scheduling, medical records, and provider communications.

Developing accurate pricing estimates for patients is one area where health systems have struggled. However, ProMedica worked with a consultant to develop a patient estimate process that has been largely accurate. Around 8 in 10 estimates that the health system delivers to patients are accurate within 5% of the total amount. Estimates that are off by 400 dollars or more occur just one percent of the time.

In addition to a patient estimate team, ProMedica created new teams for financial clearance and for pre-registration. All the teams work closely with one another to create a more seamless experience for patients. 

Under traditional models for patient access, it is not uncommon for gaps in coverage to emerge on the day of service. Under the new model, the pre-registration team can work with the patient estimate and financial clearance teams to clear up any questions before care is delivered.

With a centralized pre-registration team in place, ProMedica has achieved a 98% preregistration rate. Additionally, pre-service collections have increased by 19% and the health system has seen a decrease in registration-related denials.

Restructuring existing resources for improved patient access

ProMedica was able to accomplish increased pre-registration and pre-service collection rates without hiring any new full-time employees, according to Ducat and Cantu. Instead, the health system recognized a "great pool of candidates already in our organization" and transitioned 36 existing employees to the new patient access teams with new job titles and reporting structures.

Leadership also developed robust training and e-learning programs for the new teams, which work from remote locations, and for on-site staff. These programs focused on issues that leadership had identified as problem areas for earlier patient registration teams like, for instance, collecting consent information for patients with legal guardians.

Clear expectations exist for new patient access teams and employees are eligible for rewards if they hit certain KPI targets for pre-registration and pre-service payments.

Of course, systemwide buy-in was necessary for the initiative to succeed. However, many at ProMedica were aware that they were missing opportunities with patients and encouraged improvements to the patient experience. The patient access team then worked with executive leadership, department leaders, and frontline staff to implement changes.

"The success of restructuring was due to the fact that we had everybody involved," Ducat said.