How payments integration helps providers

Public use of virtual healthcare accelerated during the pandemic, and telehealth platforms added to the layers of software and technology solutions that providers were already using to process information. Yet these platforms weren’t designed for interoperability, creating information gaps, inaccuracies and workflow overlap.

At the same time, individuals today are paying higher health insurance premiums and more out-of-pocket medical expenses. Consequently, they’re shifting from a patient to a consumer mindset. They expect more cost transparency and want streamlined, engaging ways to interact with providers.

Healthcare payment integration can help address these trends, enabling providers to meet evolving consumer demand, safely share health records and efficiently process billing and payment data. Specifically, integrated healthcare payment solutions can help providers:

1. Boost compliance

Five years ago, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services mandated that healthcare organizations share healthcare information with patients electronically via application programming interface (API) technology. Part of a drive to give patients quick, easy access to medical information on their smartphones, tablets or computers, the mandate also reduced paperwork processing burdens on payers and providers.

By integrating your payment solution with your business and clinical systems, you’ll ensure system compliance and seamless interoperability. With payments connected to appointment booking and electronic health records (EHR) systems, staff will spend less time reconciling various platforms and entering information manually and have more time to focus on tasks that improve the patient experience.

2. Offer flexibility

With patient and payment data all in one convenient place, staff can access information and respond to patients based on their individual needs. Recent research on emerging opportunities for healthcare providers reveals that healthcare consumers want:

• Multichannel billing options: email, text or paper statements billing
• Flexible payment options: credit/debit cards and mobile, contactless and recurring payments
• Transparent billing: detailed explanations of charges and financial responsibilities
• Informed support: immediately available chat, phone or in-person customer service

With accessible, integrated payment and patient data, your staff can quickly answer common patient questions and suggest services that enhance the consumer experience. Visibility into payment data allows providers to offer flexible options like payment plans and lump-sum discounts to make healthcare more affordable for patients. Providers can also securely keep the patient’s card on file for future payments and set up payment schedules or payments for recurring appointments.

In our study, 87% of Gen Z patients said they would use a recurring payment method if offered. Installment payments help healthcare consumers by breaking down large medical expenses into manageable payments. They also help providers improve revenue cycle management and reduce the need for collection services.

Clearly communicating these payment options helps patients spend less time worrying about how they will pay for a visit and more time asking questions about care and treatment, improving the consumer experience.

3. Improve payments collection

An integrated healthcare payment platform that uses patient portals to deliver clear information about billing and payment options can increase timely payments. Offering multichannel payment options — by mail, mobile apps, at kiosks, online or text-to-pay — makes it convenient for consumers to pay bills when and how they want.

Improving interoperability means patients can pay bills while using the patient portal for other tasks such as scheduling an appointment or requesting a prescription refill. Since people expect and appreciate convenient, streamlined digital experiences, healthcare payment integration is an effective way to build consumer loyalty and satisfaction.

Healthcare payment integration allows providers to simplify payment acceptance, improve the consumer experience and create efficiencies across the revenue cycle. From data integrations to embedded workflow integrations, U.S. Bank offers solutions to securely connect payments to your existing EHR and patient accounting systems. Learn more about our Healthcare Payment Solutions or contact us to speak with a healthcare payments consultant.