10 Ways to Reduce Patient Statement Volume

Ways to Reduce Patient
Statement Volume
(And Reduce Costs)
10

© 2015 Apex Revenue Technologies All Rights Reserved.
1. Don’t Send the Same Statement to Every
Patient
• Patients are very different from one another, and so are their
preferences and capabilities. Each patient has a different financial
situation, a different level of technical ability, and lifestyle.
• To get the best results from your patient statements, segment
patients based on payment history, balance amount (high vs. low),
age, etc.
• Tailor statement messaging and advertising to be specific to each
identified patient group. Some examples include:
• High balance statements should advertise payment plan
• Small balance statements should advertise easy online and mobile payment
options
• Patients with late payment history should be notified of a prompt pay
discount.
• Promote your patient portal to those that have families, have an active visit
history, and/or contact their provider with questions frequently.

2. Redesign Your Statements to Reduce the
Number of Pages
• It is important to look at the statement from the
patient’s perspective. While some information may
be beneficial to the billing office staff – too much
information can cause added confusion to the
patients. Below are some ways to reduce the
number of pages/statement:
• Summarize balance forwards to one line item
• Omit 0.00 charges from appearing
• Omit 0.00 balance statements
• Omit statements with balances less than $5.00.
• Omit detailed descriptions – they add more confusion and
take up more statement real estate

3. Encourage Patients to Pay Earlier-
Eliminate 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Cycle Statements
• If you offer a prompt pay discount, be sure to
advertise it to patients – especially patients
that have a substantial amount due. Promote
the program on the front of the statement
where it is sure to be seen, not on the back of
the statement where some patients never look.

4. Optimize Your Address Cleansing and
Return Mail Processes
• Address cleansing provides discounted postage
rates and ensures efficient first class delivery.
• A return mail process should be a priority as it
can significantly reduce bad debt and the
amount sent to collections. Updating previously
unknown addresses allows you to connect with
patients you haven’t been able to reach before;
and therefore collect payments you haven’t
been able to collect before.

5. Use Alternate Channels to Notify Patients
When Payments are Due
• Patient financial messaging should be a
cohesive effort that starts at the point of
service and carries through after-care billing.
Use different avenues of communication with
your patients and see a higher response rate.
• Information at the point of service
• Text message alerts
• Email notifications
• Paper statement messaging
• Messaging through the patient portal

6. Make it Easy for Patients to Opt-Out of
Paper / Opt-In for E-Statements
• Reduce paper costs, speed up delivery time,
and improve patient satisfaction with
eStatements.
• Make sure the enrollment process is fast and easy
with limited steps and questions for the patient to
fill out
• Use pre-populated payment where possible
• Integrate with your patient portal

7. Provide Convenient Options for Patients
to Pay Online – Without Logging In
• Many patients don’t want to create another username and
password just to make an online payment for their medical
visit. Especially patients that don’t have an active medical
condition that requires frequent visits. In fact up to 75% of
patients that pay online, choose to make a one-time
payment without logging in. If you don’t provide this option
to patients, you are potentially discouraging a large amount
of patients from paying their bill online.
• Studies have shown that patients who pay online tend to pay
significantly faster. It is very important that providers make
it as convenient as possible for patients to pay online to
maximize the number of online payments collected, and
ultimately improve the overall speed to collect.

8. Provide Access to Statements from Your
EHR System
• Patients enroll in patient portals to more easily and
conveniently manage their health records,
appointments, and to communicate with their
providers. To further enhance their experience and
satisfaction, exact copies of patient statements should
also be accessible from the portal. This provides
access to all the information a patient needs if
questions surrounding their statement arise. Patients
can compare statements to their visit history, EOBs
they receive in the mail, and insurance claims from one
central location. Not only will it improve patient
satisfaction, it will boost patient portal adoption and
reduce inbound support calls.

9. Collect Payments at the Point of Service
• Start the financial conversation at the point of service.
Give the patient an estimate of charges and promote
financial services available to them and any prompt pay
discounts or payment plan options.
• Develop internal procedures to encourage an upfront
payment before the patient leaves the facility or when
they check-in at their next scheduled visit.
• Proactive patient financial engagement provides a more
positive billing experience and lessons billing questions
after a statement is generated.

10. Apply Analytics to Understand Which Methods Are, In
Fact, Having the Greatest Impact Statement Volume
Reduction
• Stop doing what isn’t working and switch to what is
working! Regularly analyze your patient statement
design, statement messaging and statement
advertising. Setup benchmarks to measure your
progress. With each change to the statement – measure
the amount of patient payments collected and the
number of inbound support calls to determine its
success. Continue to make adjustments to the
statements until you see improved results!
• Reduces the number of statements sent
• Maximizes savings and patient payments
• Reduces bad debt
• Increases patient satisfaction

10 Ways to Reduce Patient Statement Volume

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to 10 Ways to Reduce Patient Statement Volume

Similar to 10 Ways to Reduce Patient Statement Volume (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

10 Ways to Reduce Patient Statement Volume