The unprecedented challenges health systems face today are well publicized from rising costs to scarce labor to shrinking margins, each of which the ever-increasing portion of revenue that falls under patient responsibility compounds. Patients can’t keep up. Even insured patients now represent 60% of bad debt accounts, leaving 18-35% of Americans with medical debt in collections. Moreover, persistent labor shortages — 90% of revenue cycle leaders report experiencing a labor shortage — only make account servicing more difficult and costly. Hence, capturing patient revenue becomes increasingly difficult.
For the last decade, many health systems have used a mix of approaches to manage patient payments, including unsophisticated patient portal solutions, in-house collection teams and third-party early out services. Each of these options presents challenges. While the hope is that patients will embrace managing payments via a digital front door, adoption rates can be low and patients must decipher complex information, such as insurance benefits and payments, on their own. With current labor shortages, recruiting and retaining in-house service teams are harder than ever. Early out providers vary widely in cost structure, tend to focus on easy-to-collect accounts and have little incentive to drive patient adoption of digital self-pay tools. Given this, the standard approach lacks strategic alignment, resulting in higher costs and lower returns, while also missing the mark on patient experience.
Patient experience is critical to revenue capture
Falling short on patient experience can have significant consequences. For instance, 63% of patients are reportedly ready to switch providers over a difficult payment experience. Healthcare providers need to address their entire patient obligation pool while driving more digital engagement and higher patient satisfaction. These challenges are the reason R1 has introduced R1 Entri® Pay, a fundamentally different model for revenue performance and patient experience.
Entri Pay seamlessly integrates R1’s market-leading digital financial engagement platform with its operational excellence and scale in servicing patient accounts. The result enables healthcare providers to use a new model for patient payments.
Employ digital-first technology proven at enterprise scale
With decades of consumer finance expertise built in, patients readily adopt self-service tools to manage everything in one place for themselves and their families. The intuitive experience drives unmatched patient engagement and up to 30% reduction in cost to collect. What’s more, the greatest improvement in payment rates tends to be among patients with moderate or low propensity to pay and those managing higher balances.
Create personalized interactions across digital and agent encounters
Patients want their healthcare provider to know them. With best practices and supporting technology honed over years working with leading health systems, highly skilled service teams equip themselves to provide personal, compassionate assistance that resolves 85% of issues on the first call, while continuously encouraging digital engagement.
Realize higher performance with one perfectly aligned strategic partner
Central to this model is R1’s focus on aligning with partners that share the goal of improving patient experience while driving specifically identified performance metrics to increase operational efficiency, improve revenue performance and build patient loyalty.
A bold new approach is needed
With a fresh approach to revenue capture, healthcare providers can build stronger patient relationships while addressing the entire pool of revenue that falls under patient responsibility. Leading with intuitive, digital self-service tools, and supporting patients with personalized customer service when needed, drives more digital engagement. Ultimately, R1 helps health systems leverage the Entri Pay solution to simplify their vendor footprint and reduce operating costs, while powerfully aligning incentives in a way that encourages digital self-service, drives net-new cash and increases patient satisfaction.
Ready to learn more? Discover 3 ways to leverage technology and services to drive net-new cash.
Author Bio: Nikolaus Trotta is the General Manager of the Patient Experience Business for R1 RCM.
