The patient access experience can be enhanced dramatically by “retail-type technology,” according to Katherine H. Murphy, FHAM, CHAM, vice president of sales consulting in the Oakbrook Terrace, IL, office of Experian Health, a provider of technology for hospitals and healthcare providers.
Patients want the “retail experience of self-service management” from patient access areas, says Murphy. This experience means scheduling appointments, initiating pre-registration, obtaining liability estimation, completing financial assistance applications, and paying balances, all via web portals and mobile devices.
“Patients expect to pay their bills online, view existing accounts, and opt for paperless billing, just as they do with other industries,” Murphy says.
Patients want information pushed to them in real time to alert them of issues with their healthcare and their financial accounts, says Murphy. “This lets patients know you are working with them and doing whatever is possible to help,” she explains. Patient access could inform patients if their insurance coverage is inactive or if there is inaccurate insurance or demographic information, to prevent a denied claim.
Patient access can improve customer service, says Murphy, by “leveraging technology that allows you to tailor patient interactions based on data.” The data come from previous encounters and from third-party resources, such as payers and consumer information databases.
This process gives registrars a fairly good understanding of a patient’s financial situation at the point of registration. “This improves managing the healthcare financial liability experience, which is often a large component of patient stress,” says Murphy.
If registrars can view patients’ outstanding balances, existing payment plans, and learn their ability to pay for services, patients can have a clear understanding of their financial obligation prior to service. “This provides the opportunity for the optimum financial experience and greatly increases patient satisfaction,” says Murphy.
MUST HAVE TECHNOLOGY
Healthcare is typically a slow adopter of technology, according to Danyell Jones, senior vice president of marketing at BHM Healthcare, a St. Petersburg, FL-based consulting firm.
“But new applications are allowing providers to do more with less and still ensure a fantastic patient experience,” she says. Here are two areas Jones sees as particularly important for patient access areas:
• Technology to make check-in as easy as possible for patients.
“Programs can pre-fill standard information across many forms and eliminate this cumbersome part of the check-in process,” says Jones.
• Technology to obtain prior authorization and segment patients according to payer type.
This system allows registrars to customize financial counseling to patients for a “high-touch” feeling, says Jones.
“It makes one of the more dubious processes — bill payment — flow more smoothly.”
SOURCES
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Danyell Jones, Senior Vice President, Marketing, BHM Healthcare, St. Petersburg, FL. Phone: (785) 979-3406. Email: [email protected].
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Katherine H. Murphy, FHAM, CHAM, Vice President, Sales Consulting, Experian Health, Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Phone: (630) 812-2559. Fax: (630) 620-9328. Email: [email protected].
