Rivet Payments can quickly help increase your patient payment collection rate. This article outlines best practices we’ve seen from our most successful customers to drive upfront patient collections. It will cover setting clear expectations, providing flexible payment options, effective messaging, and diligent follow-up processes to ensure financial clarity and patient confidence in their payment obligations.
1. Setting Expectations
Multiple Communication Channels: Let your patients know via multiple methods that they should expect an estimate via text or email from you.
Verbally brief the patient on this at the time of scheduling or check-in.
Include this info in your new patient package and appointment confirmation messaging.
Have signage about the estimate from Rivet at the patient check-in area.
Payment Policy Clarity: Have a policy that the procedure will be canceled if not paid X days before the procedure. This information should be included in the note section of the estimate.
2. Flexible Payment Options
Incentive Programs: Introduce incentives like prompt pay or pay-in-full discounts to encourage early payment, making it financially beneficial for patients to settle their bills promptly.
Variety of Payment Options: Provide multiple ways for customers to pay–phone, online, and mobile payment. Rivet allows you to set flexible options to accommodate different patient needs–allowing customers to pay at 100%, 80%, or a flat rate–making it easier for them to meet their financial responsibilities.
3. Follow-up Strategies
Estimate Resend Strategy: Commit to regularly resending estimates that remain unpaid, with special attention to high-cost procedures that have not yet been settled.
Voicemail Reminders: Utilize voicemail messages to stress the potential for appointment cancellation due to unpaid estimates, adding a sense of urgency to encourage prompt payment.
Emphasis on Action: Advocate for a proactive approach by following up with a phone call and voicemail to confirm the estimate has been sent, ensuring patients are aware of their pending action items.
4. Effective messaging
Patients, especially older patients, may be leery of legitimate emails or texts requesting payment. The following strategies can increase trust and credibility:
Reference the organization: Mention your organization and Rivet multiple times to reinforce the message's source and build trust. Include your Organization’s logo in the messaging collateral.
Financial Terms: Incorporate financial terminology to clarify the message's purpose and the patient's action items.
Provide Security Assurance: Use "secure" to describe the payment link, enhancing patient confidence in the transaction's safety.
Include Alternative Contacts: Add additional contact information for any inquiries to the note section of the estimate providing a direct line to assist with visit-related questions.
Here are some customer examples with effective messaging to increase confidence :
Company logo: Your estimated financial responsibility for your upcoming procedure at [insert company name] is ready for review! Please note this payment is due one week prior to your procedure. Thank you for choosing [insert company name]. For questions, please contact [insert contact info]
Company Logo: Your estimate from [Company Name] is ready for review: [Insert Estimate Link]. To ensure your appointment date, payment is due one week in advance. Make a secure payment using the provided link. Thank you for trusting [Company Name]. If you have questions, please contact us at [insert contact info].
If you have any additional questions about the best practices for collecting patient payments feel free to chat in or send an email to success@rivethealth.com.
Suggested next article - Getting Started with Payments