The information presented in this Webinar is current as of date of live airing July 16, Emily Putnam Senior Manager, Sales

Transcription

1 The information presented in this Webinar is current as of date of live airing July 16, 2014 Emily Putnam Senior Manager, Sales

2 Evaluate your current self-pay strategy Explore how practice management can support your self-pay strategy

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6 Bills Consumers are Least Likely to Pay if Lacking Funds to Pay All Bills Source: Online Resources Corp. (ORCC), Short on Money, Will Your Customers Pay Your Bill? December * The Retailish Future of Patient Collections, Celent, February 2009

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9 A 2011 survey of patients offers the following insights. 32% Don t know their payment responsibility when they leave the office. 70% Are interested in making payments online. 63% Would use a payment plan if it was made available. * Trends in Healthcare Payments Annual Report: InstaMed.

10 Create a Self-Pay Policy Use technology to build efficiencies and automation into your self-pay efforts Make self-pay collection part of your practice workflow

11 Title: Announce the policy to the patient. Consider the following: - Financial Policy or - Policy on Patient Responsibility for Fees Section 1: Describe what the policy covers. Section 2: Describe generally that you hold patients responsible for the fees that they properly owe. Section 3: Tell the patient when you expect payment. Section 4: Clearly describe any late payment charges or any discount plan you may offer, making sure that you communicate all conditions and limitations recommended by your legal advisor. Section 5: Consider describing the consequences of non-payment (e.g., possible referral to a collection agency or an attorney). Section 6: Patient acknowledgement (optional).

12 Create a Self-Pay Policy Use technology to build efficiencies and automation into your self-pay efforts Make self-pay collection part of your practice workflow

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14 Pre-visit scheduling Check-in Intake Exam Orders Check-out Follow-up Provide patient portal to communicate self-pay policy, post anticipated co-pay amounts, and take payments Enable swift insurance eligibility checking Enable insurance card scanning Enable processing of payments via credit, HSA/FSA cards, and checks Enable secure storage of credit card information to pay future balances Enable creation of automatic credit card payment schedules Provide scripts to help staff collect co-pays, deductibles, and previous balances Provide access to real time adjudication Enable processing of credit card, HSA/FSA card, and checks Enable secure storage of credit card information to pay future balances Enable creation of automatic credit card payment schedules Provide portal to accept payment, deliver summarized EOB and statement Provide 2 automated follow-up calls every statement cycle Provide 2 automated follow-up s every statement cycle Provide live operator services for afterhours bill payment Mail up to 4 printed statements if needed

15 Create a Self-Pay Policy Use technology to build efficiencies and automation into your self-pay efforts Make self-pay collection part of your practice workflow

16 It is important to work with your staff on self-pay best practices: Help them understand the importance of collecting self-pay amounts Provide scripts for your front desk staff to help them ask for co-pays, deductibles, and previous balances Identify and appoint collection aces these people should be in clientfacing roles. And remember, asking for money is a talent. Keep this in mind when recruiting new staff Explore incentives or recognition opportunities for self-pay staff achievements

17 Here are some policies that you might consider (with the help of your legal advisor): Time-of-service payment discount Cash discount Extra charge if bill is not paid at time of service or by a certain deadline Separate internal policy to cover fee waivers, discounts, and write-offs

18 Pre-visit scheduling Check-in Intake Exam Orders Check-out Follow-up Create materials to clearly communicate policy to patients Consider policies for special circumstances Make reminder call in advance of apt Confirm demographics Collect co-pays & deductibles Scan insurance cards Collect completed HIPAA forms Remind patient to speak with front desk about payment Use scripts to help staff request co-pays, deductibles, and previous balances Ask if patient wants credit card info securely stored to pay future balances Request payment for existing balances or establish electronic payment plan if payment can t be made immediately Allocate time for billing inquiries Collection agency management and account selection for collection agencies

19 Once a month, review all patient balances that have aged over 120 days and send those accounts to your collection agency. You also need to monitor your collection agency s recovery rate and customer service skills in order to make sure that they are being both courteous and effective.

20 Life Cycle of Claim Life Cycle of the Chart Life Cycle of the Patient Relationship WHY IT MATTERS 32% average improvement in client DAR 6% average improvement in collections Reduced administrative work 95.6% Meaningful Use attestation in ,329 clinical documents processed on average per physician per month (PPM) Improved P4P revenue capture 8% average decline in no-show rates 121 patient interactions via portal per PPM 2.6% increase in self-pay DAR 2011 Life Cycle of the Order Increased volume and revenue capture from patients and insurance companies Reduced administrative work for both sender and receiver 2013 Point of Care Medical Applications Mobile medical software for drug interaction, EHR, drug prices, dosing, disease, medical dictionary, ICD9 Code, Medicare Part D, and CME

21 A Success Story San Antonio Orthopaedic Group Prior to implementing athenacommunicator: Self-pay DAR of No patient portal No online credit card processing No automated reminder call service No ability to take payment by phone outside of business hours With athenahealth: Self-pay DAR of 62.3 athenacommunicator sends s to patients that allow them to review their statement and pay their bill online in the portal In 2012, the practice sent 42,676 automated self-pay reminder messages which resulted in 772 payments within 72 hours totaling $91, athenahealth has improved our ability to collect and has streamlined the billing process for our practice and patients. -Chris Kean Chief Operating Officer

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24 increase in collections decrease in no show rate Meaningful Use attestation rate reduction in days in accounts receivable provider adoption rate

25 THANK YOU