Increasing Patient Engagement and Collections through an Enhanced Omni-Channel Approach

Now more than ever, patients expect their healthcare journey to function much like their interactions with the other consumer brands they trust. Paying for quality care, expecting timely communication and appointments, and having easy access to information are all factors within the patient experience that can influence a patient in selecting and even leaving a provider.

A large part of the patient experience also includes the financial journey. Especially in healthcare, it is important to tailor the financial journey to meet patient preferences. According to ACI Speedpay Pulse’s 2020 study on billing and payment preferences, about 48 percent of consumers choose to receive paperless communications, including bills. Additionally, the number of consumers who prefer to pay their bills through mobile devices increased 100 percent year over year.

However, CarePayment’s extensive patient engagement data from over 6.1 million patients shows that half of the consumer population still prefers both traditional and digital means of communication, including phone calls and paper mail. It is clear that personalized outreach through multiple channels is key in engaging patients, establishing trust and loyalty, and maximizing collections for providers. Discover how CarePayment’s enhanced omnichannel approach improves patient engagement and collections in hospitals.

The Omnichannel Approach

Recently expanded to include a re-designed member portal and intelligence-based communication through a partnership with independent marketing cloud Acoustic, CarePayment’s omni-channel approach meets every patient where they are in their financial journey at the right time, with the right message, using the right tactic to increase program enrollment and payments.

With new digital capabilities, CarePayment can engage patients earlier in the financial process by performing digital outreach and education on behalf of providers, even while patients wait for their insurance to adjudicate. Early engagement messaging is designed to keep patients engaged in the financial conversation and reduce payment latency, starting as early as registration and scheduling, and continuing throughout the billing and payment process.

Once patients are enrolled in CarePayment’s 0.00% APR payment plan for their out-of-pocket medical bills, they have access to a newly re-designed online portal where they can easily manage communication preference settings and choose from digital payment options, including text-to-pay. Patients will receive regular reminders via their preferred methods throughout the payment process and can also take advantage of secure online messaging with CarePayment customer service.

CarePayment members can choose from email, text, live agents, traditional paper, or the patient portal. Along with these customizable preferences, CarePayment uses Acoustic Campaign combined with a wealth of quality patient data to drive targeted communication, allowing a personalized outreach experience for each patient. For example, a patient may indicate that texting is their preference, but they respond similarly or better to email communication. With CarePayment’s ability to continually gauge patient behavior, the patient is sent payment reminders through both channels to maximize their response rate and increase collections.

Digital-First, Not Digital-Only

While digital outreach has become a best practice for reducing payment latency, not all patients respond to a digital-only strategy. Despite high response rates to digital outreach, having human customer support and tangible payment options is necessary for patient and provider success. CarePayment’s compassionate customer call center is exclusively focused and trained in healthcare and patient financing, connecting the vital link between healthcare providers and their patients as they navigate their healthcare financial journey.

Using this digital-first but not digital-only strategy within our intelligent omni-channel approach is key in CarePayment’s ability to reaches more patients than any other solution in the industry. This success stems from the understanding that no patient is the same and that customization helps to build trust and loyalty.

Beyond the Patient

Data shows that an enhanced omnichannel approach improves patient engagement and collections in healthcare. Increased patient engagement is the catalyst for a more positive overall patient experience and higher ROI for providers, showing the true benefit of CarePayment’s omni-channel approach. In fact, 90 percent of patients responded more positively to a provider’s billing process when using CarePayment’s interest-free financing to pay for medical expenses, and 76 percent of patients would choose a CarePayment provider over one that doesn’t offer the program.

Just as a healthcare provider creates a unique treatment plan for each patient, a healthcare financing solution should be just as personalized. Pairing accessible payment methods with a customizable patient engagement approach transforms the once tedious processes of making payments to a streamlined, patient-friendly one, in which they are more likely to pay on time and keep paying. With CarePayment’s omni-channel approach, bridging the financial gap between a patient’s experience and a provider’s bottom-line has never been easier.

Learn more about how the only comprehensive patient financing solution can help your organization.