SimiTree Behavioral Health has identified several challenges that providers often face when it comes to patient collections and reimbursement.
Revenue Cycle Operation: Patient Collection
The use of both technology and integrated business workflow touch points prior to rendering services (or immediately after) has proven effective in generating collections. Patient engagement has been enhanced with user-friendly access to technology tools such as patient portals, kiosks, and provider apps. Patients clearly prefer these apps for scheduling appointments, communicating with providers (including billing departments!) through email, accessing medical records, obtaining cost estimates, and ordering and refilling prescriptions. Obtaining bills and making payments through online tools ranks high in patient preferences, which has an immediate beneficial effect to providers in collecting money for services rendered.
While beneficiary plans, both private and public, foot the lion’s share of the costs for services rendered, a significant proportion of a provider’s total compensation comes directly from patients. The amount paid by private payers is driven by negotiated contractual agreements, and governmentsponsored plans are driven by established fee schedules and prospective payment systems. However, providers are still dependent on patient payments to support their operations.