From campus tuition to car insurance to home mortgages, electronic billing and text and email bill notices are increasingly becoming more popular and convenient worldwide. However, the medical sector has been slow to adopt electronic billing options. Many practices struggle to ensure their patients pay their medical bills in a timely manner. So are sending medical bills via text and email the solution to prompter payments?
Sending Medical eBills and eBill Notices via Text and Email Increases the Average Payment Rate
From text messaging to maintaining a social media presence to checking emails, the use of smartphones is increasing across the globe every day. Check out some of these SMS marketing stats:
- People spend roughly four hours each day on their phones
- Within 15 minutes of waking up, 80% of people check their smartphones
- On average, people read 90% of their text messages within the first 3 minutes after receiving them
- 82% of people say they open every text message they receive
Texts and emails are among the most viewed applications on mobile phones in this modern day and age. It takes an average of 90 minutes for people to view an email and 90 seconds to reply to text messages. With stats like this, it's unsurprising that bill payments and notices via text and email are becoming increasingly popular. In fact, a recent study indicates that 34% of consumers actually prefer making payments via smartphones.
Bottom-line, including a payment method via text and email is among the most efficient ways to reduce medical debt among patients. Industry data suggests sending medical eBills and eBill notices via text and email in addition to a mailed statement reduces the average payment rate from 20 days to 9 days.
Increasing Payment Methods Enhances the Patient Experience
It is no surprise that healthcare professionals are battling to optimize their income stream since persuading patients to settle their medical bills on time is quite challenging. Government statistics reveal that 9% of American adults have some sort of medical debt. These statistics show that three million people owe at least $10,000, while about 11 million people owe over $2,000. When it comes to private insurance, 51% of single-person households could not pay a $6,000 medical bill, and close to 33% could not cover a $2,000 medical expense.
The problem is fundamentally exacerbated by a general lack of knowledge regarding the expenses of medical procedures and the required payments. This underlines the significant need to make radical modifications in payment attitudes, and to inform patients about the financial consequences of medical operations, ideally before such procedures occur. In turn, this reduces ‘surprise bills,'; 67% of Americans attest to being surprised by their medical expenses each year.
It is crucial to stress that patients are far more inclined to settle their medical costs if they are offered a wide range of payment options. In addition, it is common for patients to lose track of their medical bills and ultimately forget to pay them. But, when a medical institution ensures that the payment alternatives for patients on your website will assist in alleviating their concerns and enable them to access care quickly, you are more likely to receive on-time payments from most of your patients.
Research from AccessOne reports that 32% of people will pay their medical bills within five minutes of receiving eBills and eBill notices via text, email, or any other preferred digital channel. In addition, it found that while 25% of them will pay within five minutes after receiving the ‘payment due' notice, 30% will pay as soon as possible via a mobile app, and another 25% will pay promptly after receiving the notice via a patient portal.
eBills and eBill Notices Via Text and Email Guarantees Secure Payments
Due to the increased security of online payment methods, an astounding 90% of consumers are willing to receive emails and text messages from brands and businesses. Unlike physical letters and emails, text messages are always read by the recipient. This means you can target your clients in an easy-to-use format that they are already familiar with, making it easier and faster for them to pay their medical bills.
Due to the efficiency, security, and convenience of eBills and eBill notices, the standard payment period is reduced drastically. These solutions use well-known security solutions that are entirely PCI-compliant and safeguard consumer data. They also help in protecting your organization from expensive chargebacks and fraud. As a result, medical practices can increase their cash flow predictability, leading to freed-up financial resources that will help the practice run more smoothly.
Text and Email Medical Bills Enhance Reporting and Reduce Overall Costs
Paper billing can be expensive since it requires stamps, envelopes, and labor to fold and stuff a letter. By eliminating those procedures, a digital bill payment and collection approach enhance your bottom line while speeding up payment processing.
In addition, traditional desktop reporting and paper-and-pencil approaches provide unorganized client records. It takes a considerable amount of administrative work to put together a report that gauges responsiveness and the degree of success of your billing team. Instead, requests and payment status may be combined into one efficient customer communications platform using a platform like BillFlash, where nothing remains unrecorded.
Accessible eBills and eBill Notices Via Text and Email With Billflash by Nex Trust
The best part is that adding additional communication and payment options to your medical business does not have to be a headache. BillFlash Pay Services by NexTrust is a swift and convenient integrated system that allows you to include automated payments, mobile and online bill payments, or an integrated in-office payment service using any of our merchant accounts. You can also choose to keep your current merchant account and use our gateway-only alternative.
By incorporating BillFlash eBill Notices via text and email, you can send your patients customizable eBill Notices straight to their mobile phones. After all, the earlier you bill them, the faster they will likely settle the medical bill. By combining the ease of sending eBill Notices with the dependability of mailed bills and access to round-the-clock payment services by BillFlash, you are sure to reap the rewards by increasing the consistency and timeliness of your medical practice's earnings.
Schedule a demo to learn how BillFlash can benefit your facility, practice, and revenue stream.