What Kind of Lemonade Stand are you Providing for your Patients?
Now that summer is upon us, here’s a relevant analogy: suppose you are tasked with starting a lemonade stand and the goal is to be as profitable as possible. Would you set up shop in a sparsely populated neighborhood with very little traffic? To gain customers, would you rely solely on word-of-mouth from the 4 people that drive by all day, hoping that they are thirsty and willing to take the extra steps to stop, find change and chat? Would you serve watered-down, lukewarm lemonade to ensure that your few customers will never return?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I’m inclined to think you might be a fan of flying with Spirit Airlines, or that the Cleveland Browns are a well-run organization (no offense to those at the Cleveland Clinic). We can all recognize bad business when we see it in other industries. It’s amazing in healthcare, though, how frequently we see businesses relying on a poorly run lemonade stand to collect a growing portion of their revenue.
It’s no secret that patients today owe more out of pocket than ever before. Recognizing this, along with the fact that most consumers prefer to pay online, chances are you’ve already implemented a way for patients to go to your website (or that of a third-party) to make a payment. You have set up a lemonade stand, and now it’s time to sit back and eat a popsicle while you watch the business roll in.
Except maybe your experience, like many others, has been that there hasn’t been nearly the traffic you had hoped for, and it sure doesn’t seem like the few that do come by are very thirsty. It’s becoming evident that there are things outside of the “stand” that you should focus on if you want better results.
For instance, focus on finding the neighborhoods with lots of kids to increase your chances of conversion. How about making it a curbside service so folks don’t have to exit their vehicles? Be sure to make it clear what the ingredients are so people feel safe and comfortable with the transaction, and ultimately, ensure that it’s a GREAT product so people leave satisfied.
OK, enough with the analogy, but hopefully you get the point. A portal is a place to take an online patient payment. A successful patient-focused billing SOLUTION is much more. There are some key things to consider with your patient payment experience that many online portals doesn’t solve for:
How are patients primarily being driven online to pay? Paper statements?
Can patients receive friendly texts and emails with intelligent messaging and automated reminders? Can the frequency be customized?
Does login require registering for an account? How are they accessing their account number?
Are patients able to view their statement online, or simply view a balance? Is the statement just a PDF version of a paper statement, or a dynamic online bill that updates in real time?
Does the statement match the patient’s EOB, helping them to understand what they owe and why?
Can the patient set up an automated, flexible payment plan without having to call the billing office? Can they set a future date for the plan to begin?
Does the patient receive an instant electronic receipt? What about the ability for the patient to access all of their bills/receipts in one place?
How mobile friendly is the experience? Does it require the patient to download an app?
In our view, it’s all about engaging with patients in the appropriate way, ensuring that the experience is easy (and mobile friendly!) and providing patients with the options that they need to ultimately pay for the great services that you’ve provided. It may be time to go check out the status of the piggy bank under your lemonade stand, I bet there’s lots of room for more quarters.
See how you can increase revenue with a patient-focused billing solution.