The Covid-19 pandemic has forced nearly every company in every industry to learn how to operate differently, especially healthcare.
The most notable change for patients and doctors is telemedicine technology for examinations and diagnosis. While less than 1% of physicians reported using telemedicine prior to the pandemic, More than half It was adopted in the months following the lockdown.
What started out as a necessary change to ultimately make patients and physicians feel safer, it is now clear that what many patients say telehealth has been improve Quality of care – here to stay. It’s a lesson in how quickly technology can fundamentally change existing practices, whether due to external shocks or customer demand.
Technology’s promise to improve American health care doesn’t end there. Now, two years after the pandemic began, health care providers can significantly improve some long-standing industry practices — most importantly, patient billing — with relatively low investment.
By improving the way people understand and pay, healthcare providers can help reduce the anxiety-inducing burdens that are common to many patients.
Why healthcare needs to address its billing system
Of all the stubborn challenges in our very complex national healthcare system, the one that consistently frustrates patients is billing. Medical bills can be intimidating, the language can be confusing, and — more importantly — it can sometimes be difficult to pay everything at once.
By any standard, it’s clear that the payment experience for healthcare is broken. Sometimes, months or more after surgery, patients receive multiple “bills” from multiple providers — often with inconsistent numbers — and often have limited payment options.
This flawed process not only alienates patients, it also affects the hospital’s bottom line as it leads to lower payment rates.According to the American Hospital Association, that could amount to a loss Up to 10 cents per dollar cost.
How to make billing better
Solving this problem is partly a technical problem, but also requires a rethinking of the relationship between patients, hospitals and insurers. Many medical payment processes may not have been rigorously scrutinized for decades.
Highly developed, consumer-first technologies from companies like Amazon have forever changed patient expectations. People have become accustomed to paying for goods or services with a single click and seeing their billing details clearly. Newly accustomed to convenience and transparency, more and more people are demanding easier, frictionless payments across all walks of life.
Reducing or eliminating this friction in healthcare means not only making it easier for patients to understand their bills, but also giving them the flexibility to pay how and when they like. (It will also require internal stakeholders to be less top-down and more sensitive to patient needs.)
Reimagining payment methods can also make the billing process more transparent, a change that helps control costs. Greater transparency would allow all parties in a transaction – patients, hospitals and insurers – to understand what services really cost, potentially leading to more competitive pricing.
Three things to consider when making your billing system more patient-centric
Reinventing the core processes of any organization is never easy, and getting it wrong obviously has bad consequences. So here are three things you should consider when upgrading your payment system.
- Find a partner who understands healthcare. Any healthcare provider looking to improve billing must find outside expertise to help, as it involves financial and technical know-how. But not all experts are the same, and even some very established companies may not have much healthcare experience. Finding the right partners is critical to making the initiative work.
- Consider your cybersecurity needs in detail. The top priority for healthcare provider executives is protecting the network from cyberattacks by hostile actors. Stories of hospitals being shut down or taken hostage by ransomware are both common and frightening. No matter what partner you choose, With network vulnerabilities. Make sure this partner is transparent and has robust systems in place.
- Let the interests of your patients be your North Star. While improving the payment system will certainly help your bottom line by making it easier for patients to meet their obligations, the guiding principles for this transition need to be developed Their Life is easier.Focus on making your system meet their needs firstand build from there.
Despite challenges, urgent change is needed
Like much of our economy, the healthcare industry faces significant headwinds. In particular, the industry is facing a labor shortage that could make it difficult for some institutions to withstand additional major disruptions.
Even so, reform of the payment system is critical to maintaining the highest quality patient care in the long term. And, unlike some other healthcare challenges, this is one that larger organizations need to take the lead, as smaller providers often don’t have the resources to spearhead such major initiatives.
Healthcare providers should be advocates for patient empowerment. A priority is to make interacting with the system less intimidating and exhausting, which can greatly improve patient health. Reforming the billing system is a great opportunity to do good by doing good.
Photo: Cat View, Getty Images
