COVID-19 & Patient Payment: 5 Steps Your Practice Can Take To Survive
COVID-19 & Patient Payment: 5 Steps Your Practice Can Take To Survive
A few weeks into the pandemic, it was obvious medical practices would be hit hard. Those that already had telehealth and online patient payment in place were at an advantage, of course, but none were safe.
Back in April, 97% of practices reported that COVID-19 was having a negative financial impact. Today, 79% continue to report fewer patient visits than they were seeing pre-pandemic.
Why Patients Aren’t Showing Up
There are dozens of reasons patients aren’t showing up. Some are staying away because they assume their physicians are swamped. Others are making appointments but canceling them due to anxiety or fear. And while 40% of patient visits could be handled via telemedicine, practices are reluctant to commit resources to that because they’re unsure if reimbursement for telemedicine will continue once the pandemic ends.
What Practices Can Do
Amid the uncertainty, practices need to act. Experts predict that companies with a solid online presence will be less likely to suffer from the anticipated economic downturn, and it’s not too late for medical practices to pivot.
5 Steps Your Practice Can Take To Ensure Its Survival
1. Consolidate Administrative Resources.
As a medical practice, adhering to the standard of care for record-keeping remains important, even as you ramp-up your system to become more remote. The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends every practice compile a guide of essential remote resources so you can ensure you’re tracking claims submission, patient payment data and other metrics appropriately.
A payment platform like PayGround can help you ensure compliance by consolidating every patient payment into one platform. Everything can be viewed from one platform, and your accounting staff will never have to reconcile multiple systems again.
2. Implement Telehealth.
Telehealth services can help your practice operate remotely in a way that’s safer for both employees and patients. Consult the AMA’s quick guide to telemedicine practice to learn about COVID-19 flexibilities for practice and reimbursement, and check out your state’s emergency declarations and licensing orders here.
As you establish a telehealth service line, be sure to select an online payment partner that offers customization. A payment platform like PayGround helps you strengthen your practice’s brand by placing your logo, colors and details on your personalized payment page. It also makes patients feel more confident paying you quickly online.
3. Accept Patient Payment Online.
Today, online payment systems and providers are more trusted by the public than ever before, and that extends to medical practices. The use of cash and checks is declining, touchless payments are rising, and experts are certain that contactless payment is the path forward.
When deciding on a payment platform for your practice, be sure it offers a robust menu of features. Solutions like PayGround were designed with practices and medical groups in mind. We make it easy for patients to safely store card or banking information for future payments with the click of a button, and to set up online access for family members as needed.
4. Increase Your Cash Flow With Analytics.
Collecting patient payment efficiently has never been more important. While late payments were a challenge or annoyance in the past, today they can be a direct line to practice closure. To mitigate these effects, experts agree that all businesses need cash-flow forecasting based on analytics. You need to know exactly how and when payments are coming through so you can plan for the future.
PayGround increases patient payment speed several ways:
- You can review accounts, send and track invoices and see billing analytics all on one dashboard.
- PayGround can layer on top of your current systems, which means it can be implemented without any resources from your practice.
- You can accept patient payments online, as well as any insurance reimbursements paid via virtual credit cards. You can also choose to keep those separate from patient payments to streamline reporting.
The most important feature: It works. PayGround users see a 23% increase in collections within the first 90 days.
5. Offer Flexibility To Employees.
Many medical professionals are concerned about their own health as they navigate a return to work or a pivot to telehealth. Be transparent about your practice’s efforts to help them make the best decisions for their family, and offer as many remote options as you can if a particular employee doesn’t need to be onsite.
With PayGround, employees can keep patient contact to a minimum. Our payment platform doesn’t require a physical terminal to run payments, so it’s safer when processing patient payment in person. It also allows you to process payments offsite, securely and over the phone, which gives accounting and administrative professionals even more flexibility to work remotely.