Paying for medical bills is a straightforward process, right? Although that may be the case when you're a seasoned member of the industry, it isn't an experience that translates to the rest of America. Just 60% of people feel comfortable paying their medical bills. Although the way patients pay their bills has evolved, it hasn't made life any easier for them. In a recent study that examined the consumer payment experience, surprising findings were made. By learning more about them, you can see how Emerald AR Systems could enhance patient communication for you.

Like any business, medical practices need steady cash flow to be successful. By the time a claim goes to the insurance company and back, the patient might not even remember the services they received. Sometimes patients simply don’t consider paying their doctor as a priority. These issues result in the practice not having the money it needs to pay their staff’s salaries, their overhead charges, or for their supplies.

Surprise medical bills are big business. A recent survey suggests 57% of Americans have received a medical bill they expected their insurance to cover.

Have you been operating with an understaffed department? Are your 60-120-day buckets getting larger and larger? Do you have way too many manual processes? Were you nodding at any of these questions as you were reading them?  Adding more staff and manual processes are what I characterize as "band-aid" fixes -- great for clean-up projects, but not ideal as permanent solutions to a problem that will continue to rear its ugly head. 

A patient notice is one of the most powerful communication tools in healthcare revenue. Without them, the patient wouldn't know how much to or when to pay. Unfortunately, 57% of patients are confused by their billing statements. The result of their confusion leads to payment delays and an increase patient call volume. 

Let's be real here.  Billing offices don't have time or the resources to manage more calls and they certainly don't want to wait longer to get paid. Emerald's research team decided to tackle the problem. We worked with industry experts to improve the patient statement. We compared multiple notice templates, analyzed patient calls and other concerns related to the statement.  When we finished our analysis, we narrowed our improvements to three main areas.  

We all love free things. But when we think of outsourcing, we typically think of letting go of a process or department; we don’t think of gaining anything. Fortunately, by outsourcing your medical billing and collections services with Emerald A/R Systems, your company can gain more than you ever thought, and for free! That’s right, Emerald A/R’s flat free pricing means all the company’s additional services are free. Let’s look at just a few freebies you can get when you outsource your billing and collections.