The Tenet Healthcare Corporation will offer patients at its hospitals the option of paying their bills online.
Dallas-based Tenet, which operates 53 hospitals in 12 states, has deployed Online Bill Pay from the Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp. following a successful pilot implementation earlier this year.
NCR Online Bill Pay is an automated bill payment application that enables patients to inquire about the status of their accounts and pay outstanding balances using a secure Web-based platform.
To use the application, patients complete an enrollment process from their hospital's Web site. Once enrolled, users can update profiles, make payments, set up recurring payment plans, access a glossary of billing terms and view frequently asked billing questions.
Patients will soon have the option of linking multiple accounts, which will enable them to manage payments for both themselves and family members.
"By using Online Bill Pay, we're able to offer our patients an easy way to view their bills, arrange payment plans (or `select payment options') and make payments from the comfort of their own homes and offices," said Stephen Mooney, senior vice president of Patient Financial Services at Tenet. "This is another way that we are working to make our payment experience friendlier for our patients."
Online Bill Pay is also designed to allow Tenet to speed the collection of patient balances, improve cash flow and reduce accounts-receivable days while simplifying billing processes.
"Tenet's implementation of NCR Online Bill Pay not only enhances the level of service patients receive by enabling them to manage billing information at any time from any location, but it also benefits healthcare facilities by reducing paper costs and the number of patient calls while improving cash flow," said Chakri Toleti, vice president of Healthcare Industry Marketing at NCR.
Would having access to and paying your hospital bills online be beneficial to you? E-mail Associate Editor Molly Merrill at molly.merrill@medtechpublishing.com.