Professional Credit’s president, G. Scott Purcell, delivered an insightful presentation on self-pay collections and the challenges presented in a post-Covid economy at the recent HFMA Region 10 Revenue Cycle Roundup virtual event. Among the many strategies he offered for overcoming the new obstacles for operations and the revenue cycle, was the “work backwards” approach. Today we wanted to touch on some of the finer points of that strategy and how it can impact self-pay collections in the long term.
“Begin with the end in mind” is an adage adopted from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. By beginning with the desired end result in mind and working backwards to the “now” Covey states that you will have a better understanding of the necessary steps and can minimize the likelihood you will go marching off in a direction that is not aligned with your goal. Applying this strategy to self-pay collections means identifying the long term goals. Scott describes this as…
One-touch Resolution
A one-touch resolution in self-pay means both efficiency for the collections process, and quality of the patient and guarantor experience. A healthy revenue cycle is a quickly revolving revenue cycle. A stagnant process, slow-moving accounts, is bad for the health system and its patients. The continuous reissuing of statements, letters, and calls each month weighs down resources, resulting in increased costs for all parties involved in the long term. Ideally, we want to know FPL and discounts are accurate, to prevent rework, maximize revenue, and impact the quality of the guarantor experience.
Our goal is to create a financial experience, including with our vendors, that matches or is superior to the clinical experience. We already know what factors are at play in generating a superior financial experience. To put it simply, it’s personalization. To create a personalized experience, you must first understand the needs and pain points of your patients and guarantors. This means understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all approach; strategies for communication, outreach, and payment will change with your patient demographic. Next, you have to meet patients where they are. This means providing tools for convenience whether that is self-service portals, digital payment options or omnichannel communications. This also means meeting them where they are financially – providing reasonable payment plans that can help patients settle their account in accordance with their unique circumstances.
This feeds the future of the revenue cycle; positive experiences lead to patient loyalty and referrals. Keeping the cogs of the business office turning, keeps our health system clients, and thus ourselves, in business. If we work backwards from this as our end goal, we ensure that we always have the patient experience in mind— which in itself, improves their experience.
Learn more about this and other strategies by viewing Scott’s full presentation from HFMA’s recent Region 10 Revenue Cycle Roundup event.