The Patient Financial Experience: A Link to Patient Satisfaction, Payment, and More

© 2015 Simplee All Rights Reserved.
@adractas
Friday, December 4, 2015
12:00–1:15 pm PST
The Patient Financial Experience:
A Link to Patient Satisfaction, Payment and More

@adractas
John Adractas is the Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Simplee.
John is an expert and frequent speaker on innovation marketing,
engagement, and analytics. He held leadership roles at three venture-
backed enterprise companies in addition to Google. Earlier in his career,
John was a venture capitalist.
He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the
University of Pennsylvania.
Speaker
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@adractas
Gameplan
1. Perspective
2. New model
3. Field learnings
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Credit:J.Kohl

@adractas
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Credit:happythanksgivingday.xyz
Delivering food vs. creating a dining experience

@adractas
Consider...
Patient view of their financial journey
Am I making
smart choices?
How much
WILL THIS COST?
Are these the
CORRECT
AMOUNTS?
Is this going
to be a hassle?
How will
(can) I pay?
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@adractas
Transaction → Experience
Wrap complexity to focus on “patient success”
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Price / Cost Estimate Post-Service
bill
Point of ServicePre-Service CallEligibility
Check-In
Patient Financial Experience

@adractas
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Links to payment + loyalty
Source:
Longitudinal study of patient satisfaction with billing and payment experience by Connance (Consumer Impact Study, 5th annual, results published Aug 2014, sample size n=500)

@adractas
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References:
BAI = Balance After Insurance
1.
Kaiser Employer Health Benefits Survey (2014) http://kff.org/report-section/ehbs-2014-section-five-market-shares-of-health-plans/
2.
The Advisory Board: The Daily Briefing (13 Aug 2013) https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2013/08/13/khn-hospital-bad-debt-climbs-as-coverage-costs-are-shifted-onto-workers
"Hearing from members they are
seeing an increase in bad debt and
even in charity care for people with
high-deductible health plans"
Caroline Steinberg (VP Trends Analysis)
American Hospital Association
5x in 8 years
BAI is the new black (I mean RED…)

@adractas
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Creates high expectations
Think “1 click”.... “2 seconds or less” before abandon.
71% consumers report valuing their time is most
important thing a company can do to provide good service.
Source: Forrester: “Understand Communication Channel Needs To Craft Your Customer Service Strategy”, March 11, 2013
Photo credit: https://www.helpscout.net/blog/self-service/

@adractas
Banking
● 58%prefer self-service banking3
● 35%use mobiles for banking3
Retail
● 100Mvisit Amazon monthly1
● 66%supermarkets have self-service2
● 25%of all transactions2
Energy
● 71%prefer bills online2
● 69%prefer payment online2
INSIGHT
Self-service already a norm (outside healthcare…)
References: 1. Richter, Felix. “E-Commerce in the United States.” Statista. 30 October 2012. Accessed October 8, 2014. www.statista.com/chart/683/e-commerce-in-the-united-states. 2. Jones, Raymond D.
“Maximizing Opportunities at Self-Checkout.” Dechert Hampe Consulting. 2012. Accessed October 8, 2014. www.dechert-hampe.com/images/stories/Opportunities_at_Self_Checkout_120427.pdf. 3. Geffner,
Marcie. “Consumers still like online banking.” Bankrate.com. October 9, 2013. Accessed October 10, 2014. www.bankrate.com/financing/banking/consumers-still-like-online-banking.
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@adractas
Requires trust + convenience, good to do anyway
Case study: Airlines
● Jumped 20% → 80%in 8 years1
● Transformed check-in experience
and agent’s role
Reference: 1. Drennen, Hannah. “Self Service Technology in Airports and the Customer Experience.”
(2011). UNLV Theses/Dissertations/ Professional Papers/Capstones. Paper 1053. Accessed October 8.
2014. digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2054&context=thesesdissertations.
Credit:PaulSabelman(Flickr)
Credit:TomerShoval
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@adractas
All Rights Reserved.
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OPPORTUNITY!
Strategic complement to clinical experiencePatient financial experience is...
A. Last impression
B. First impression
C. Common to ALL patients
D. Affects “significant” dollars

@adractas
1. Perspective
2. New model
3. Field learnings
Gameplan
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Source:
Registered trademarks of Amazon, Inc, Southwest Airlines, Inc, and Vanguard, Inc

@adractas
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Vision
Empower healthcare consumers with a financial experience
that enables a successful patient journey (+ builds loyalty!)

@adractas
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Marketing
Revenue
Cycle
Patient
Experience
“Dunning cycles”
Staff driven
Transactional
Painpoint
Integrated engagement
Self service optimized
Convenient “experience”,
satisfaction driver
How?

@adractas
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Let’s shield patients from back end complexity
Source: “Pay a Bill” page via US Bank on Peace Health website as of 28 October 2015

@adractas
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… and do better than this.
Source: “Pay a Bill” page via US Bank on Peace Health website as of 28 October 2015

@adractas
Engagement is like exercising a new muscle...
● Lean culture
● Challenge norms
PROCESS
PEOPLE
● Executive passion
● Motivation alignment
● Insight: peers + beyond
SYSTEMS
● Bold and clear KPIs
● Supporting technology
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@adractas
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Engage
AlignEmpower
● Clean, modern designs
● Consumer friendly billing
details integrated into payment
● Unified experience across
hospital & physician services
● Pay by any method, any
time, any device
● Self directed financing
options
● Inline feedback, every
payment
● Compelling info, easy access
(eg, what do I owe & why)
● Convenient flow: guests +
registered users (portal)
● Targeted communications
that adapt by stage
Be agile
Foster continuous learning around patient success

@adractas
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Set a high bar
New dimensions of success, aligned with patients
Price / Cost Estimate Post-Service
bill
Point of ServicePre-Service CallEligibility
Check-In
PATIENT
STAFF
COLLECTIONS
1.Engage early and adapt
2.Aim for empowered
patients (think self service!)
ABANDON /
WRITE OFF
3.Measure & drive satisfaction
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@adractas
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Source:
National survey of “How Consumers Pay” by Federal Reserve of Boston, 2011 https://www.bostonfed.org/economic/wp/wp2012/wp1202.pdf
National survey of Healthcare CFOs and Revenue Cycle Executives by HFMA and Simplee (2014, n=150)
10X
5-10%
>50%
Healthcare
bills
Household
bills
Self Service Payment Habits
Healthcare opportunity to close gap

@adractas
1. Perspective
2. New model
3. Field learnings
Gameplan
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@adractas
1. Engage patients and improve satisfaction
2. Create effective, scalable system for billing patients
3. Enable transparency across patient revenue cycle
Leadership matters:
Define bold vision for patient revenue cycle
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@adractas
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STAFF ASSISTED
● Answer phones
● Post payments
● Scheduling
Challenge
→ Headcount pressure
SELF SERVICE
● Online/mobile payment
● Patient driven payment plans
Challenge
→ Learning skills, no existing headcount
It’s a balancing act
Borrowing today, tomorrow’s gains

@adractas
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Re-envision traditional experience
CASE STUDY
Source: Lancaster General Health’s patient statement and online payment portal

@adractas
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Build trust:
Make it easy to be confident along the journey
CASE STUDY
Source: Lancaster General Health’s patient statement and electronic version with friendly details via Simplee platform (images Nov 2015)

@adractas
Increase engagement:
Create financial journey campaigns
CASE STUDY
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Source: Sample engagement emails sent by physician providers at Lancaster General Health to patients via Simplee platform (images Nov 2015)
● Go beyond “pay us now”
● Messaging adapts to stage
● Mobile friendly design
Welcome New Bill
Bill
Reminders
Pre-collection
Alerts
Thank you

@adractas
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Empower patients:
Help patients to pay on their own
“Love that it allows you a payment plan option,
if necessary!”
- Lancaster patient
CASE STUDY
Source: Sample engagement emails sent by physician providers at Lancaster General Health to patients via Simplee platform (images Nov 2015)

@adractas
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Capture more patients:
Give patients flexibility, portal (SSO) + guests
“Very nice and quick and
convenient. Kudos for using
this method!”
- Lancaster patient
“Thank you! Probably would
have paid it sooner had I
known it was going to be
this easy.”
- Lancaster patient
CASE STUDY
Source: Lancaster General Health’s patient billing homepage (images Sep 2015)

@adractas
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Metrics matter:
Self-service focus drives satisfaction + more
Source: 2014 baseline analysis from Lancaster General Health (LGH) Rev Cycle team + 2015 payments summary report from SimpleePAY backoffice for LGH
↑122%
Self service
(2014 vs. 2015 Y-o-Y)
82%
Recommend
(Billing and payment experience)
Single Checkout for Hospital + Physician
Convenient guest flow, integrated into patient portal too
CASE STUDY

@adractas
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Net collections increase too
-45
1
41
Source: 2014 baseline analysis from Lancaster General Health (LGH) Rev Cycle team + 2015 payments summary report from SimpleePAY backoffice for LGH
Overall growth $1.6M, self-service up $1.7M
CASE STUDY
↑ 14% growth year over year

@adractas
CASE STUDY
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Making it easy captures inbound interest
Source: Memorial Hermann homepage (16 Oct 2015)

@adractas
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Self service focus can have many benefits
Source:
1. Patient survey after self-service payment on SimpleePAY
Comments for question: “How likely is it you would recommend [Leading regional hospital] to a friend or colleague due to your recent payment experience?” (n=12,749, Response rate = 30.3%, Answers range 0 to 10)
2. Cost per payment on post service basis, excludes point-of-service transactions.
3. Net collections includes all patient self pay, from pre service to point-of-service to post-service.
↑ 57%
Digital self-service
↓ 24%
Cost per payment
(Post service2
)
↑ 17%
Net collections3
“Model implementation”
Live system wide in 5 months
12 hospitals, 135K patients, 1,200 staff
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Net Promoter Score
(Billing and payment experience1
)
CASE STUDY

@adractas
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Net Promoter Score
41
1
-45
Source: Patient survey after self-service payment on SimpleePAY
Comments for question: “How likely is it you would recommend [Leading regional hospital] to a friend or colleague due to your recent payment experience?”
(n=12,749, Response rate = 30.3%, Answers range 0 to 10, average 8.38)
“Very easy and fast! I didn't even have to enter my address.”
“I was on hold, so I decided to log on and it
was faster and convenient for me. Thanks”
“Payment plan was REALLY easy to set up.”
“I appreciated not having to use a username/password”
“Love that I can see what amount owed is for.“
“Just paid one at [different hospital]
and it took me twice as long.”
“I really like this new email bill.”“Thank you for allowing me to pay you in small payments
and when I am able to do so. Thank you very much.”
“This was so easy and quick that I almost fell off my chair.”
Extend visibility for satisfaction and insights
CASE STUDY

@adractas
CASE STUDY
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Empower staff to shift to higher value activity
Source: Compares pre launch (Epic MyChart with paper statements and online) to post launch with Simplee (paper and online).
For savings, compares Simplee licensing, contingency fee, and paper statement costs to average of previous months.
↓ 21%
Cost per payment
(post service1
)
↓ 50%
Incoming calls
(24 FTEs re-allocated)
Greater Collections, Faster Gains
Self service
75%
“Very Satisfied”
(Billing and payment experience)

@adractas
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Easy access to patient estimates are coming...

@adractas
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Patient seeks:
● Confidence (to proceed…)
● Price
Provider seeks:
● More patients, better engaged
● More payments, sooner
● Insights
Estimates are a HUGE opportunity
Support decisions: education + value

@adractas
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Closing thoughts:
Financial journey is a common denominator
“Brand” is what your prospect thinks of when
he/she hears your brand name
Today’s painpoint → tomorrow’s advantage

@adractas
Q&A
One platform, one (delightful) experience.
John Adractas
Chief Marketing and Growth Officer
john@simplee.com
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