How Can Providers Help Patients Pay Their Bills?

Educating patients about financial responsibility has emerged as a key element of the patient financial experience.

Patients are shouldering more of the costs for the care they receive. This has put more emphasis on the patient financial experience, and providers need to educate their patients about financial responsibility.

According to a recent survey, 88% of patients feel these discussions should occur as early as possible. The majority of respondents prefer to hear about payment solutions available to them from their provider, while 20% of them prefer doing so through their preferred method of communication, like email, phone calls, or online.

For out-of-pocket care costs, according to providers, patients largely rely on credit or debit cards (53% and 49%, respectively).

Other methods include:

• Cash/check, 26%
• Health Savings Account (HSA)/Flexible Spending Account (FSA) funds, 23%
• Payment plans (from provider), 21%
• Buy Now, Pay Later, 10%
• Installment Loan (from provider), 8%
• Healthcare-Specific Credit Card, 7%

Providers can also use third-party financing options or payment plans to help patients fulfill financial obligations. In addition to timely payment for providers, the terms are often flexible enough to work with the patient’s financial situation.

At Ochsner Health, payment plans are offered before, during, and after care is provided. The health system offers internal and external plans that are interest-free, with the balance based on the system’s price estimate for the service.

“Additionally, we have a patient account customer service team that can help create payment plans on the backend after patients receive a bill,” Savanah Arceneaux, director of pre-service and financial clearance, shared during a recent HealthLeaders NOW Summit. “But we’re really trying to focus and capture those on the front end where we can.”