According to a recent study, the majority of medical patients feel that a digital payment experience is a vital component of healthcare. In fact, many patients report that it plays a key role in their decision to stay with or leave providers.

Of the 2,000 respondents, about two-thirds reported that they want access to payment plans and more than half stated that they desire digital payment options. Even though the vast majority admitted they are satisfied with the face-to-face aspect of their care, they consider digital payment options a make-or-break offering when deciding whether to stay with a particular provider.

Three ways medical providers can innovate the patient payments experience.

If we’ve learned anything from COVID, it’s that the healthcare patient journey is in dire need of change. As of early 2021, nearly half of patients said they were skipping checkups, procedures and generally disengaging with healthcare providers due to customer experience concerns. The silver lining is that payment plans and financing innovations can measurably improve the patient journey, and thus keep patients from shopping around for new providers and skipping preventative/routine appointments and procedures.

1 – Provide patient financing options and payment plans.

Despite nearly 67% of patients wanting access to payment plans, only 44% of providers offered them in 2020. ¹ Presumably this is due to the perceived burden of setting up and taking on the risk that comes with patient financing. This is where ClearGage can help. Our platform features multiple customizable payment plans that are backed by ClearGage, and a robust in-house servicing suite. With our financing platform, you will be able to:

• Drive efficiency by customizing your program workflow;
• Tailor your program offering to approve up to 100% of patients;
• Give your patients multiple financing options with one simple solution; and
• Go digital with an all-electronic patient experience and real-time prequalification.

¹ According to an article by Healthcare Finance News “Innovation is Needed for the Patient Payment Experience” published on February 1, 2021.

ClearGage is a modernized payments platform that’s streamlined for tomorrow’s practice. We went over every detail in great depth to deliver a solution that today’s customers love to use.

2 – Enable mobile and digital patient payments and billing.

While 54% of patients want to monitor their payments digitally, 43% are willing to share preferred payment details and 43% prefer to automate payments. ² Clearly offering mobile payments and digital billing alongside financing plans is another key component to improving the healthcare patient journey.

Although this may seem like a difficult transition from analog systems, we’ve helped many organizations seamlessly upgrade their billing processes. In fact, ClearGage’s payments platform allows you to offer an all-in-one analog/point-of-sale and digital payments solution. Providers who do not have such offerings are sure to lose patients (particularly of younger generations) and miss out on growth opportunities.

² According to an article by Healthcare Finance News “Innovation is Needed for the Patient Payment Experience” published on February 1, 2021.

3 – Provide real-time insurance verification and treatment estimation.

At the beginning of 2022, the Federal Government enacted the No Surprises Act. This legislation helps protect patients against unexpected medical bills that they cannot afford. The passage of this act is yet another indication that providers need to put their patients’ needs first if they want to succeed in the long run.

Aside from offering payment plans and digital billing, you can further innovate the patient journey by providing real-time insurance verification and treatment estimation through the ClearGage platform. This will allow your patients to quickly and easily understand their expected out-of-pocket costs prior to undertaking an appointment or treatment.

Attract and retain more patients with ClearGage.

Today’s patients feel that customer journey is an integral part of healthcare, and a key reason to stay with or abandon a provider. Providing a mobile-friendly, patient-first billing and payments experience that focuses on transparency and offers payment plans is one of the top ways that healthcare providers can improve satisfaction and thus attract and retain more patients. Schedule a demo to see how ClearGage can innovate the patient journey for your practice.