During a recent discussion in the HealthLeaders' The Winning Edge series, revenue cycle leaders from UW Health, INTEGRIS Health, Moffitt Cancer Center, and Waystar shared their insights on shifting approaches to collecting patient payments.
Collecting patient payments is becoming more important as patients take on a greater share of their healthcare costs. In the past, health systems typically sought patient portions of medical bills after rendering services. That's beginning to change as health systems explore new technologies and new strategies to collect patient payments as far upstream in the revenue cycle as possible.
In the most recent episode of The Winning Edge, sponsored by Waystar, panelists shared their thoughts on engaging patients on their financial responsibility, how technology is streamlining patient payments, and the massive hurdles standing in the way of accurate pricing estimates.
Panelists included Ryan Klein, senior director of patient access and financial experience at UW Health; Mike Lorenz, director of revenue cycle at INTEGRIS Health; Andy Talford, senior director of patient financial services at Moffitt Cancer Center; and Eric Sulivant, solution strategist at Waystar.
Watch a recording of the full webinar below, read the recap, and check out the panelists' top tips for patient payment success.
Luke Gale is the revenue cycle editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Proactive patient engagement regarding out-of-pocket costs is critical to improving collection of pre-service payments.
Technology enables automated payment plans, flexible payment options, and billing reminders, which can all help to improve collection of patient payments.
Educating patients on cost sharing mechanisms like copays and deductibles can help them to better understand their responsibility for healthcare costs.