A payment guarantee program for an electronic payment application will be beta tested at three healthcare provider sites.
The program, designed to make healthcare providers more comfortable with extending terms for patients who can't pay their deductible in one lump sum, guarantees payment if patients default, said Mary Dees, president of Preferred Health Technology.
PHT has been seeing a rise in its administration of automated payment extension plans, she said. After the month-long beta testing, PHT will conduct a full-scale rollout of the payment guarantee program.
The recession, coupled with high-deductible health insurance plans, is putting pressure on healthcare providers to collect co-pays and deductibles during the patient's visit. PHT's A-Claim estimates the cost of patient responsibility at the point of service and automatically deducts the adjusted claim, if the amount is less than the estimate, from the patient's credit card or checking account.
The application allows payment to be automatically collected over time, should patients need to negotiate terms, and can suppress sending out monthly billing statements. With the average cost of $6 to send out a patient bill, which includes billing company services and postage, healthcare providers can save money with extension plans in place, Dees said.
Offering an extended payment plan also strengthens the practice-patient relationship when patients see that the practice understands their financial situation, she said. Patients are more willing to pay under these situations, she said.
PHT is putting together case studies that will highlight client ROI in the form of the reduction of losses and outstanding accounts receivables by 30 percent to 70 percent, she said. The case studies will be out in September.