The healthcare industry faces the constant challenge of needing to embrace new healthcare payment trends while still keeping the needs of patients and guests in mind. During the pandemic, many people preferred telehealth services to avoid needing to travel to offices, which had the effect of making electronic payments the primary option. Scheduling, collecting co-pays, and processing insurance all became digital tasks rather than ones that required face-to-face communication.
Having emerged from the pandemic, in-person patient visits have returned, but the preference for contactless payments remains incredibly popular. As a result, many healthcare providers have upgraded their systems to accommodate guests’ electronic payment preferences.
According to one report, 85% of consumers prefer to pay their medical bills using an electronic payment method, and 78% want their healthcare providers to continue offering contactless payment options in the future.
As healthcare payment trends continue to evolve, administrators should consider the advantages of offering digital and contactless payments when deciding which direction to shift their healthcare payment systems.
The Advantages of Digital Payments
Digital payment solutions have changed the healthcare industry in various ways, and the industry has already started to see the benefits of moving away from cash handling.
For example, when Boston Children’s Hospital adopted a digital payment strategy in 2018, they saw a 93% increase in copay payments and a 17% decrease in refunds. Now, 60% of payments are made during patient visits.
Not only have hospitals enjoyed the benefits of offering digital payment options, but patients are also beginning to demand their providers offer this type of service, as 56% of consumers would consider switching providers if it meant enjoying a better healthcare payment experience.
While every healthcare campus has its own needs and goals, contactless payments and eliminating the need for cash handling offer several significant benefits administrators can’t afford to ignore.
Enhancing the Guest Experience
From how they pay for parking to covering medical expenses, any guest or patient visiting a healthcare campus wants to enjoy an easy, hassle-free experience. Digital payments offer guests the option of not relying on cash or checks to pay for their healthcare or the services they receive.
When you provide a digital portal, cash-to-card kiosk, or handheld payment option, you improve the guest experience by eliminating confusion and the hassles that come from cash handling. These solutions allow healthcare providers to meet the expectations of guests who want to enjoy the benefits of contactless payments while also meeting the needs of the underbanked or cash-reliant who could be left out if cash were no longer accepted.
Streamlining Task and Procedures
Cash handling and reconciling cash payments drain resources, potentially taking your staff’s valuable time and attention away from providing better customer service and patient care. Every time a guest uses cash to make a payment, it sets off a series of cascading events, from completing the transaction and securely storing the cash to reconciling sales receipts and depositing cash into accounts.
Digital payments eliminate the need to directly accept cash, which then eliminates all the tasks and procedures associated with cash handling. Free of dealing with the hassles of directly accepting cash, your staff can focus more on tasks that improve the guest experience by providing more attention and a higher level of service.
Improving Cash Flow
Reliably and accurately accounting for cash flow is essential for modern healthcare providers operating on razor-thin margins. Being able to accurately predict revenue cycles allows healthcare administrators to implement growth initiatives while empowering organizations to dedicate more resources to improving patient-driven services and standards of care.
The healthcare payment systems powering digital transactions operate faster than humans trying to manually reconcile cash payments with sales receipts. By eliminating the days or weeks it takes to process cash manually, healthcare providers see immediate improvements in cash flow while reducing the human errors that lead to costly accounting mistakes.
Strengthening Security
All healthcare facilities need to take steps to protect patient health information, but that also extends to protecting financial data. Contactless payments employ effective encryption measures to safeguard financial information and restrict access to sensitive data. Campuses can implement authentication requirements to prevent unauthorized access to bank accounts and credit card numbers while conducting regular audits to ensure that sensitive financial data remains secure.
Eliminating cash handling also improves campus security. Not interacting with cash significantly reduces the risk of theft and fraud that can threaten the safety of staff and guests. Campuses can also save on security costs that would typically go toward protecting on-site cash, such as guards and armored car transport.
Ready Credit Can Help You Embrace the Future of Healthcare Payment Trends
The role of digital and contactless payments in healthcare seems clear. Patients appreciate the convenience and transparency, while healthcare providers enjoy the benefits of faster payments and improved cash flow. As the industry moves further away from cash handling, it’s still essential that healthcare providers accommodate the payment preferences of all guests rather than risk turning away business.
As an industry leader in providing digital payment solutions, Ready Credit is here to help you navigate the future of healthcare payment trends. Contact our team today to discover how our scalable solutions can accommodate your guests while improving efficiency, reducing expenses, and meeting the payment expectations of the modern patient.