Patient Engagement
Arm patients with a secure online self-service portal to settle bills, manage accounts, schedule appointments, pre-register and view lab results
Experian Health will be at HFMA ANI again this year–booth 1025–at the Venetian-Palazzo Sands Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kristen Simmons, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Innovation, Consumer Experience, and Marketing, with Experian Health, chatted with Joe Lavelle of IntrepidNOW to provide her insights on this year’s HFMA ANI conference, consumerism in healthcare and much more! Excerpt below: Experian Health booth activities \"[In our booth this year at HFMA ANI, we want to focus] around peer to peer learning and exchanges, so we are doing less selling and more engaging and more understanding. Understanding folks problems and helping to collectively arrive at solutions. We are doing a lot this year in terms of hands on demos of our solutions. We\'ll be showing some of our patient engagement products which include, self-service portals and mobile options for getting price estimates for applying for charity care, and setting up payment plans. Likewise, on the revenue cycle management side to automate orders with patient access functionality, contract management claims and collections, all those types of things that we do to improve efficiency and increase reimbursement for our clients. We\'ll also be showing off some of our identity management capabilities to match, manage, and protect patient identities so we can safe guard medical information and reduce risks for our clients. And on the care management side, our early support and sharing of post acute patient care information to help providers succeed as we all move forward into a value based paradigm.\" How Experian Health is addressing the need for consumerism in healthcare \"When it comes to consumerism, it\'s interesting when you\'re a company that has a lot of data and a lot of capabilities to say, \'Hey what can we do for people?\' One of the things we really wanted to look at for our consumer approach, was to say, \'What is it that needs to be done?\' We had some great hypotheses coming in and a lot of those were borne out but we actually undertook a big national study to take a look at what consumers biggest pain points were. It has a qualitative and a quantitative component. But, we basically looked at the entire healthcare journey so we weren\'t just asking them about the administrative and financial aspects of care, but also the clinical aspects. As we walked through the journey and were able to get a lot of quantitative data about all these different aspects of their healthcare journey, what actually turned out to be the most painful for the most people, were all the things around the financial equation. And, so clearly there can be pain in a clinical side, especially if you\'re unhealthy, you\'ve got something chronic, you\'ve got something terminal. There\'s all kinds of awful situations there but, really affecting almost everyone is a lot of the pain around the financial aspect of healthcare. So, we were able to look closely at some of those pain points and decide on some of the biggest ones that we wanted to tackle.\" How Experian Health is helping providers address financial pain points for patients and providers \"Some of the big pain points for people is just the fact that you don\'t know what you\'re going to owe and as the patient portion of responsibility increases, understanding what you\'re going to be paying becomes more and more important to a consumer. So, understanding what I owe earlier, being transparent, and then helping me pay, those are some of the areas. And there are others but those are some of the absolute biggest pain points. And as you pointed out with some of our propensity to pay analytics, and some of the other capabilities that we have, we\'re able to help providers understand the financial situation patients are in much earlier in the process so they can get them to the right kind of funding sources. They can give them peace of mind so that they know what they\'re paying upfront, which may impact when they choose to go in for a major procedure or how they might want to save up for it or how they might want to access different funding sources.\" Listen to the full podcast
There\'s no question that portals increase patient engagement. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, almost eight in 10 patients appreciate the improved access to healthcare information afforded to them by self-service systems. Unfortunately, portal systems also offer an obvious target for healthcare hackers. Within a patient portal, criminals can steal medical identity data, which is worth somewhere between 20 and 50 times as much as financial data, such as credit card numbers. They then use the stolen information to submit fraudulent claims, fill prescriptions, and resell medical equipment. What\'s more, because many healthcare organizations lack proper detection tools and some patients neglect to check their explanation of benefits (EOB) statements, health data breaches tend to go undetected longer than those in other sectors. No wonder healthcare data security incidents rose 211 percent in 2017, according to the 2018 \"McAfee Labs Threats Report.\" Protecting patients\' data with technology Patient portals engender patient engagement and loyalty, but if a data breach occurs, that loyalty is quickly lost. Besides losing patients’ trust, healthcare organizations that experience a data breach face potentially severe HIPAA penalties. Healthcare firms can learn a great deal from how other industries have met similar security challenges without overburdening consumers. Providers can use best-in-class technologies, data and analytics systems, and their deep understanding of patient needs to manage risks and protect patient identities. To arm providers against breaches, Experian Health offers Precise ID® with Digital Risk Score to protect portal users’ identities from their first sign-in to their last. By automating the portal signup process, it stops false enrollments at the source. Then, using multilayer verification, it provides access protection for future sessions. Because Precise ID takes less than a second to evaluate access risks, patients don\'t need to sit through loading screens. On the provider side, Precise ID satisfies the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services\' Promoting Interoperability standards, minimizing compliance risks. At a time when one in five patients withhold information from physicians because of data breach concerns, Precise ID builds trust between patients and providers by protecting patients\' data from unauthorized access. Giving patients the power to access their medical information through portal technology has been one of the past decade\'s biggest steps forward in improving patient-provider relationships. But with that reward comes responsibility: Providers must protect portals from unauthorized access and theft of medical records. With Precise ID with Digital Risk Score, providers get the security they need, and patients get the seamless access they\'ve come to expect.
Last year, a Kaiser Family Foundation study revealed that employer-based health insurance deductibles in the U.S. were at an average of $1,505. In 2006, the average was only $303. During this span of 11 years, the majority of responsibility for healthcare costs shifted from insurance companies to patients themselves, and many are still reeling from the sticker shock. Before consumerism and routinely high deductibles, healthcare providers focused most of their collection efforts on health insurance companies. Now, patients are a main source of providers\' revenue, and some organizations are struggling to fit their old revenue cycles into the new payment landscape. However, many patients aren’t prepared for the increasingly high costs of healthcare, so they may opt to delay their care until they’ve met their deductibles at the end of the year. This creates a volatile and unpredictable revenue cycle in which organizations are slow in quarter one and quarter two and then slammed in quarter three and quarter four. Other patients could forgo medical care altogether, cutting down revenue for providers. Both scenarios contribute to a less healthy general populace and a vicious cycle in which more patients need increased care but most of them continue to hesitate or refuse it. At Experian Health, we recognize and want to bring change to this unstable healthcare climate. Our healthcare price transparency tools take sticker shock completely out of the equation by stabilizing the revenue cycle and putting transparent pricing in healthcare and payment options at the forefront. Applying consumerism to transparent pricing in healthcare Healthcare might have been a bit slow to catch up, but modern consumerism has already changed virtually every other industry. Today, consumers demand to know what they’re paying for and exactly how much before any transactions are complete. They need payment options that make their lives simpler and the ability to manage their accounts conveniently online without jumping through hoops. All of this is possible for healthcare organizations to provide, but they must be proactive in helping patients overcome the burden associated with modern healthcare costs. From financial education to flexible financing programs, any organization can improve patient satisfaction by providing transparent price information and affordable solutions upfront. With that goal in mind, Experian Health offers a variety of healthcare price transparency tools that can set your organization on the path to financial clarity, education, and advocacy: Patient Estimates A high medical bill is stressful alone, but it’s infinitely more so when the amount of the bill far exceeds what a patient expected. Price transparency is paramount to overcoming that stress. It’s also mandated in several states and will soon be in all others. With Patient Estimates, you can deliver transparent pricing in healthcare to every patient before or at the point of service. Our Patient Estimates tool automatically generates estimates based on treatment costs, payer rates, and a patient’s eligibility for benefits. The platform takes the guesswork out of the process by automatically storing and populating this information so you can provide patients with highly accurate estimates as early as possible. Patient Statements When patients know what price to expect on their medical bills, they’re more prepared to pay them. Yet if they can’t read or understand the bill, they might still delay paying it until they have time to thoroughly address any concerns. To simplify the final bill, we offer Patient Statements software that combines separate billings into one simple, easy-to-understand statement. Patient Statements not only simplifies a patient’s bill, but it also helps you turn it into a valuable engagement tool. Every statement can be personalized with educational information about the patient’s condition, links to relevant videos and websites, and marketing messages for products that can improve the patient’s quality of life. Patient Self-Service Consumers are used to going online and managing their finances from a smartphone or computer. They often choose retailers based on this availability, and soon, most will choose healthcare providers on the same basis. Giving them convenient, 24/7 access to their healthcare accounts through Patient Self-Service portals will become increasingly more important for organizations to stay competitive. An online, self-service portal allows patients to view their estimates, manage their integrated fundraising accounts, pay their bills, and stay up-to-date with changes to their healthcare. Our self-service healthcare price transparency tools are also protected by highly secure payment processing technology, so patients can be confident that their information is closely guarded every time they interact with the platform. PaymentSafe® Collecting healthcare payments requires the combined security of protected health information and a patient’s personal and financial data. Our comprehensive PaymentSafe solution makes it possible to safely and conveniently collect payments at any point in the care cycle and from any department within the organization. Every payment is automatically settled throughout the system, as well, so patients are never double-billed. PaymentSafe also applies to every type of remittance — from electronic checking and debit cards to cash, checks, and money orders. In addition to satisfying information safety compliance standards, the technology gives patients peace of mind and encourages them to be more proactive in settling their healthcare bills. Transforming your revenue cycle to make it more consumer-centric and price transparent can seem like a daunting task, especially in an industry in which every small change has resounding consequences. At Experian Health, we’ve made it our mission to make that transformation easier by helping organizations provide the healthcare price transparency tools and payment options that their patients demand.
Making phone calls, filling out paperwork, and chasing down debt shouldn’t take up the bulk of a healthcare organization’s daily schedule. Now more than ever, physicians have little time to provide high-quality care to their patients. In 2015, the American College of Physicians (ACP) put forth the Patients Before Paperwork initiative to address the burdens that these administrative tasks create for physicians and their staff. The ACP states that defining and mitigating administrative tasks is essential to improve an organization’s workflow and reduce physician burnout. Through utilizing healthcare workflow automation, you can improve productivity without overextending employees\' duties. Instead, your team can spend more time caring for patients and helping them with the financial side of their experience, which is something both patients and doctors prefer. Easier access with automated healthcare solutions In the new wave of consumerism, there is a high demand for convenience and transparency in every transaction. Healthcare providers and organizations also face this pressure, but the industry has been slower to transform because patient care transactions are infinitely more complicated than online retail purchases. Despite the slow go, healthcare workflow automation technology and organizations are starting to catch up. For example, engagement is a defining factor for today’s healthcare consumers. However, engagement must be mindfully catered to specific situations. When it comes to scheduling appointments, patients actually prefer an automated healthcare workflow approach over talking to a human. Regardless of its form, engagement is still essential in all aspects of the care continuum, and physicians can find it hard to engage when every administrative task has to be completed by hand. If you’re still devoting time and resources to manual patient access tasks, you\'re not only falling behind in the competitive healthcare industry, but you’re also missing an opportunity to enhance the overall patient experience. Fortunately, countless tasks — scheduling, preregistration, registration, and admissions — are no longer paper-based and don’t require nearly as much hands-on involvement as they used to. Given this reality, automated healthcare solutions can and should take are of scheduling and other mundane tasks. Ultimately, automation will allow administrative employees to focus on other areas of engagement, like financial counseling for patients. Employees will have more time to help patients understand their financial obligations and perhaps set up a payment plan before procedures, avoiding the sticker shock of a surprise bill months later. The touchless approach In the Patients Before Paperwork initiative mentioned above, the ACP concluded that “excessive administrative tasks have serious adverse consequences for physicians and their patients.” At Experian Health, our automated healthcare solutions reduce those consequences by creating a touchless approach that only requires human intervention for exceptional cases. A touchless, automated healthcare workflow makes patient access predictable so you can spend more time serving patients. For example, our eCare NEXT® solution is a single platform that automates every step of the revenue cycle. Users only work on prescreened accounts with actionable follow-ups. Touchless Processing™ takes care of the rest through intelligent automation. You can effectively implement Touchless Processing throughout the rest of your organization by integrating eCare NEXT with Experian\'s other solutions: Registration QA When eCare NEXT is integrated with Registration QA, for instance, you can automatically access patients’ insurance eligibility in real time and identify registration inaccuracies early in the revenue cycle. This significantly reduces claims denials that can cut into revenue and take up more time to correct and resubmit. Payer-specific information can also be stored and automatically updated to ensure accuracy every time that payer comes up. Authorizations You can carry the touchless approach even further by expanding your suite of solutions with our Authorizations.The platform automates authorization management using the payer authorization requirements already stored and updated in the system. Authorization completes inquiries and submissions without user intervention to further reduce denials and expedite reimbursements. When done manually, administrative tasks related to orders, scheduling, preregistration, registration, and admissions are a drain on any healthcare organization’s resources. Minimizing staff involvement in these tasks improves the experience for physicians and patients alike, but it requires automated healthcare workflow solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into the workflow. With Experian Health’s Touchless Processing solutions, providers can exercise greater control over these tasks and significantly improve revenue recovery. This will give physicians and employees more time to focus on creating a more efficient, effective, and positive experience for everyone involved.
As the health industry faces extraordinary changes, how can leaders better drive efficiency and optimize resources? Recently President for Experian Health, Jennifer Schulz, sat down with The Business Debate to answer this pressing question. In short, the best way to get there is to turn to data-driven technology. In this interview, Jennifer touches on some of the main barriers to efficiency in health systems: Patient financial payments and identity management. Here are some excerpts from her interview. To watch the video and read Jennifer’s editorial, please click here. Patient financial payments and price transparency “The use of technology in healthcare is slim. When a consumer in a retail experience or a financial service experience uses their mobile device, or goes online, that experience doesn\'t translate into healthcare. Experian Health is very focused on improving the transparency of healthcare from a financial perspective. We\'ve launched things like patient estimators because there’s no other large purchase you make in your life that you don\'t know what you\'re about to buy. And healthcare, for the most part, this all happens after the transaction, and that type of transparency in healthcare can come with the use of technology.” Universal patient identification “Another issue is identity isn\'t the same when you go from system to system. Every hospital, every provider looks at you as an individual, and puts a number associated with you. That number is within their system only, and so you may go across systems, but there is no view of identity. One of the solutions we\'ve launched here at Experian Health is the universal identity manager, and we\'re offering that with no charge to our clients because we think identity is the one key to provide transparency across systems.” As we have done for other industries, Experian is at the forefront of bringing this type of consumerism to healthcare. Through our data assets and technology, we empower our clients to connect with consumers through a tailored approach that is personalized along the patient journey. To learn more, visit www.ExperianHealth.com.
In a new whitepaper, Technology and Data-Driven Decisions Driving Best Practices for Patient Collections, Experian Health analyzes the results of two recently fielded surveys aimed at learning how organizations approach the process of obtaining payment from patients. The paper reviews both an HFMA-led survey and an Experian Health-facilitated one, discussing the current state of patient collections, as well as emerging best practices to improve performance. While knowing that organizations are working with varying degrees of success to offer more patient-friendly financial interactions, using technology and data to inform and drive patient engagement, Experian Health wanted to understand the best practices that organizations are using to elevate performance in patient collections. Our findings were published in this HFMA whitepaper which discuss the findings from these two research projects and validate best practices and offer unique insight into the successes and shortfalls of the patient financial experience at health organizations.
This is an exciting time for our industry, and agility and knowledge are critical for your organization to Lead the Way by meeting the growing expectations of patients and keeping pace with the ever-changing healthcare landscape. Since 2004, the Experian Health 2017 Financial Performance Summit has connected business leaders to discuss innovative ideas and solutions, allowing organizations to improve their overall financial performance and increase profits. Summit 2017 focused on collaboration, idea sharing and networking, with numerous sessions on how you can take control of your organization’s road map for growth and operational efficiency. The intimate setting of Summit 2017 allowed for unique networking opportunities, one-on-one conversations with subject matter experts and numerous breakout sessions that will provide valuable insights from industry thought leaders. The three-day Summit provided hands-on learning opportunities with product experts and the exchange of knowledge with peers in an engaging environment. The agenda featured industry-leading speakers, provider- and Experian Health-led educational sessions, a dedicated leadership track, one-on-one training, networking lunches and receptions, and evening events featuring live entertainment. Break-out sessions at the Summit covered: Claims Collections Contract Manager Patient Access Patient Engagement Price Transparency Thought Leadership If you attended the Financial Performance Summit about would like to download any of the presentations, they are available here. If you would like to attend one of our future events, please contact us.
Manually cold-calling patients to remind them of upcoming appointments or of bills nearing a due date has never been an effective engagement strategy. On the contrary, such reactive tactics reduce engagement quality and can harm revenue cycles. It\'s important to remember that real connection empowers patients to be proactive in their care and improve their own outcomes, which encourages them to keep up with future appointments and medical payments. For modern healthcare organizations, maintaining this level of high engagement requires more than the automatic actions they’ve grown used to. Instead, the overall healthcare world needs more robust patient engagement to push forward and stay relevant with patients. Without this change, organizations are more likely to encounter skipped appointments, preventable readmissions, missed payments, revenue loss on several fronts, and poor patient outcomes. Fortunately, Experian Health offers a range of solutions that make it easy to engage patients in their care, improve patient outcomes, and create more profitable revenue cycle management (RCM) throughout an entire organization. Using patient engagement technology to improve care As previously mentioned in an Experian Health blog, patient portal technology — among others — is rewiring the technological landscape and capabilities in the physician and patient relationship. Portals are used for secure messaging by 41 percent of family practice physicians, and 35 percent of physicians also use them for patient education. This type of patient engagement technology culminates in our Patient Self-Service portal, which pools together data from our Patient Estimates, Patient Statements, and Coverage Discovery tools. The portal gives patients a single point of access to request estimates, pay bills, check financial assistance eligibility, and receive advice from doctors, nurses, and specialists. The above are just a few results from elevated, proactive patient engagement. Another perk is the portal’s unique ability to automatically populate patient-specific and payer-specific information into each estimate for optimal accuracy. This feature gives patients peace of mind by knowing what their exact out-of-pocket expenses amount to. When they receive a bill that matches the estimates they’ve been budgeting for, patients are more likely to adhere to payment obligations and return to a healthcare organization for future medical needs. This also makes it easier for an organization to collect payment at point of service and throughout the rest of the patient’s care continuum. Risk stratification for more successful revenue recovery For the first time in history, there is a growing convergence of powerful, internet-connected personal devices and massive amounts of analytical, social, financial, and behavioral data tied to individual patients. Experian Health’s timely patient engagement tools allow providers to tap into this convergence to revolutionize how they engage with patients at all points throughout their care. For example, by analyzing patient-specific financial information, this engagement technology can help providers identify when patients may benefit from financial assistance, especially for upcoming treatments. In turn, the provider can send the patient information about how to request for this type of assistance through an interactive portal with accurate estimates. To help reduce readmission rates for non-critical concerns, Experian Health’s tools can also help identify when patients may need unique, targeted engagement. For instance, patients with heart conditions can benefit from information regarding diet and lifestyle changes that improve cardiovascular health. These tools help providers determine the best type of content to send and the appropriate medium to send it through, such as email, text, or app notifications, according to the patient’s specific preferences. By working together with healthcare providers, Experian Health’s solutions combine highly personalized self-service with accurate price transparency and patient-risk stratification to proactively engage with patients. You, too, can be at the forefront of improving patient outcomes and RCM strategy effectiveness by understanding the changing healthcare environment. Utilizing tools, such as a patient portal and others, can position your organization to increase patient engagement and benefit from being a forward-facing healthcare provider.
Consumers love the ability to research and compare prices of products on the fly so they know upfront what they’re signing up for. They’ve come to expect this level of empowerment in every transaction. Yet in healthcare, that expectation is now a demand as patients shoulder increasingly higher out-of-pocket costs. Patients are also wary of being surprised by exorbitant hospital bills months after care. As a precaution, they want to know how much of the costs they’ll be responsible for before they receive treatment. Additionally, it would also be nice to make payments and schedule appointments online without being put on hold for hours or dealing with confusing call centers. Until now, healthcare providers have been more or less behind the times when it comes to integrating technology into everyday workflows. With this in mind, organizations need to make price transparency and self-service vital aspects of the care they provide, and they need the right technology to do it. Fortunately, benefits of self-service portals not only include price transparency, but also appointment scheduling. Experian Health’s range of tools, such as the Patient Self-Service portal, makes it easy for any healthcare provider to catch up and equip patients with the tools they need to be confident in their care and payments. Advantages of self-service portals Patient engagement is the cornerstone of quality care and clinical outcomes. However, it can be difficult when patients are prematurely frustrated because they already know they’ll be hit with higher than expected costs for their visit, tests, and treatments. As a solution, moving patient billing to the front of the revenue cycle eliminates that worry, making it the first step to build trust and improve patient engagement. The next step is making administration simple and convenient for patients. Scheduling appointments, changing insurance or address information, and asking questions about their treatment shouldn’t be arduous processes. When patients can accomplish these tasks quickly and conveniently, they feel more satisfied with their chosen healthcare provider. Empowering patients through information and engagement helps them manage their ailments, illnesses, or simple doctor visits more efficiently, which translates to fewer readmissions. Providers can also improve their cash flow by delivering accurate estimates and immediate balance notifications, rather than making patients wait up to 30 days for paper statements. In turn, patients and providers can both benefit from using a self-service portal because it improves virtually every aspect of healthcare administration. Key benefits of self-service technology in an all-in-one portal Experian Health’s Patient Self-Service portal makes it easier to keep patients informed and empowered, which not only improves the quality of their care, but also aids an organization’s financial health. For instance, manual scheduling alone takes one person or a team of full-time employees, which can be costly. On the other hand, in a self-service portal, patients interact directly with technology without the need for full-time human assistance. The easy-to-use portal isn’t just about scheduling, though. Through the portal, patients can also check whether they qualify for financial assistance, receive support for presurgery planning and postsurgical follow-ups, and email questions to their medical team. Another helpful portal feature notifies patients about their possible qualification for charity care. If eligible, patients can avoid medical bankruptcy by setting up a crowdfunding page to help pay their bills. Furthermore, the portal is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It\'s where the head of a household can review and update the entire family’s billing, account, and insurance information conveniently in one place. In addition, patients can receive a consolidated bill that\'s easy to understand and set up automatic payments so they know how to budget for future healthcare costs. Combined with upfront price transparency – which is now a legal requirement in many states – the Patient Self-Service portal provides vital benefits for streamlining healthcare administration and engaging with patients on the level that they need and expect.
