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 traveling 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 healthcare payments remains incredibly popular. As a result, many healthcare providers have upgraded their systems to accommodate guests’ electronic payment preferences.
According to the InstaMed 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 trends in healthcare payments continue to evolve, administrators should consider the advantages of offering digital and contactless payments when deciding which direction to shift their healthcare payment systems.
4 Key Advantages of Digital Healthcare 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, offering contactless payment options and eliminating the need for cash handling provide several significant benefits administrators can’t afford to ignore.
1. 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 contactless healthcare 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.
2. Streamlining Task and Procedures
Cash handling and reconciling cash payments can drain resources, taking your staff’s valuable time and attention away from delivering better customer service and patient care. Every time a guest uses cash to make a payment, it triggers a series of cascading events, from completing the transaction and securely storing the cash to reconciling sales receipts and making deposits.
Digital payments eliminate the need to directly accept cash, which then eliminates all the tasks and procedures associated with cash handling. Free from cash-handling burdens, your staff can focus more on providing a higher level of service and enhancing the overall guest experience.
3. Improving Cash Flow
Reliably and accurately managing 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.
Digital healthcare payment systems operate far more efficiently than manual methods. While reconciling cash with sales receipts can take days or even weeks, digital transactions process quickly and reduce the risk of human error. By eliminating manual cash handling, providers benefit from faster revenue recognition and fewer costly accounting mistakes.
4. Strengthening Security
All healthcare facilities need to take steps to protect patient health information, but that also extends to protecting financial data. Contactless healthcare 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 further improves on-site security. Reducing physical interaction with cash significantly lowers the risk of theft and fraud that can threaten the safety of staff and guests. Campuses can also save on traditional 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 a leader in 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.
See more of Ready Credit’s Healthcare Offers:
Streamline Digital Payments with ReadyPAYOUTS™ Automated Payment System
