Trends in Healthcare Payments LEARN THESE BEST PRACTICES TO MEET PATIENT PAYMENT CHALLENGES By Bill Marvin T he healthcare payments industry is growing at a rapid pace; however, 25 to 40 cents of every healthcare dollar is spent on administrative expenses. These costs are only poised to increase as changes due to reform and consumerism continue to reshape the industry – impacting the way billing services do business. Data from Instamed’s 2013 Trends in Healthcare Payments Annual Report includes quantitative data from over $85 billion in healthcare payments on the InstaMed network, and confirms that the healthcare payments industry is evolving; it outlines how healthcare payors and providers can manage these changes. In Consumers want to manage, pay, and understand their healthcare finances in one convenient place. particular, growth in consumer responsibility and the shift in payment methods will be crucial areas to increase focus. Below are trends featured in the report and best practices for billing services to prepare for the future. 1. IMPACTS OF CONSUMERISM IN HEALTHCARE PAYMENTS Sixty-seven percent of providers indicated that they saw an increase in patient responsibility. A decade ago, payors and employers managed almost all of the health benefit decisions for patients. As a result, patients were relatively insensitive to costs as they took care of their healthcare needs. However, today, patients have higher deductibles (over 15.5 million have high-deductible health plans) and have become consumers who are sensitive to their healthcare costs. Seventy-six percent of providers said that it took more than one month to collect from a patient. Trends in healthcare payments show that the increase in consumer responsibility is accelerating, but many healthcare providers and their billing companies still rely on paper-based, manual payment collection and posting processes. Furthermore, consumers expect to pay healthcare bills when and how they choose, as they do for other bills. As a result, healthcare providers and their billers are spending more money and more time to collect, yet are still accumulating a large amount of bad debt. 2. MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF CONSUMERISM IN HEALTHCARE PAYMENTS Seventy-nine percent of patients said that they would prefer to pay online through their provider or health plan website. Consumers want to manage, pay, and understand their healthcare finances in one convenient place. To resolve collection issues and meet the needs of consumers, billing services must work with healthcare providers and payors to help consumers take control of their healthcare payments by delivering simple, online solutions. Fifty-five percent of patients said that they normally paid their monthly bills online, and 24 percent said that they paid those bills via their bank’s bill pay portal. A growing number of consumers now pay household bills using their bank’s bill pay portal, so they can easily manage all of THE JOURNAL OF THE HEALTHCARE BILLING AND MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 25
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