Study: Patients Prefer Electronic Billing for Healthcare Services

According to a recent survey by Waystar and HIMSS Analytics, the majority of hospitals, health systems, and outpatient facilities continue to bill patients with paper statements. Although paper billing is a standard practice, more than half of the 1,000 patients surveyed said that they prefer electronic billing and payment. Electronic billing aligns with how patients pay other bills and responsibilities. Electronic billing is not only preferred by your patients, however, it also creates efficiencies for your back end billing process as well. It is time for healthcare providers to bridge this gap to ensure patient satisfaction.

Benefits of Electronic Billing

Those who utilize electronic billing see these benefits: Faster bill delivery. Mailing a paper bill slows down payment and claims processing. Valid documentation of when the claim was filed. Since a lot of insurance companies require a claim be sent within the first 90 days after treatment is completed, a digital record will ensure that you have a timestamp to show proof of when the claim was filed. Minimal errors. When filling out paperwork by hand, it is easy to make errors or miss errors on paper claims. Medical billing software can identify mistakes early on in the process. This creates a quicker and more efficient process. Comparatively, if you send a faulty claim in the mail, you have to wait for the insurance company to identify the error and mail back a denial before you can fix the issue and send it out again.

Consumers Prefer to Pay Immediately

The electronic billing study also noted that more than 75 percent of surveyed consumers would “allow a health organization to charge a credit card provided at the time of service for medical charges up to $200.” Three-fourths of consumers would prefer to pay electronically upfront so that they understand their financial responsibility at the beginning of the process. Full transparency is desired; they also do not want to be surprised receiving a large bill in the mail. An electronic billing process creates an avenue for your practice to be proactive instead of reactive. You can increase the transparency in your services and collect a portion of the payment up front.

Support Your Patient Experience with An Optimized Process

Precision Medical Billing has developed a complete patient intake and processing system to streamline your administrative process. We call it No Waiting Room and the system allows for a virtual front desk, records management, and back-end billing. Services that are covered in our No Waiting Room process include:

• Virtual Intake
• eEligibility
• eScheduling
• eVerifications of Insurance
• Prior-Authorizations
• Patient Financial Counseling
• Medical Billing and Collections
• Special Consulting and Training

We are confident that we can help you and your patients by: Providing them with 24/7 access to their benefits via digital records. Informing them of their obligations upfront to create a proactive patient experience. Allowing the patient to ask questions and understand their treatment before making a commitment. Your medical practice needs a reliable and predictable billing and collection process. An electronic solution for medical bill pay is now the preferred method for patients. And, with the growth of technology and software, it is easier than ever to incorporate electronic resources into your practice. If you are responsible for your agency’s billing process and are looking for an easy-to-manage solution, then consider converting to the digital world. For more information on how electronic billing will improve your process, reach out to our team to start discussing a solution.