It is a massive understatement to say that the American healthcare payment system is complicated. Many patients find it extremely stressful to navigate the intricate procedures of medical payments. One survey found that 57% of Americans were surprised by medical bills that they thought would be covered by their insurance. It should not be surprising that nearly 79 million Americans have problems with medical bills or debt. So, let’s conduct a deep dive into the world of medical billing systems and payments to understand how patient payment solutions help to simplify the process.
Elements of Healthcare Payments
There are many components of healthcare payments that often leave patients confused. Let’s explore some of them in detail:
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Complicated Bills
It is common for medical bills to contain codes and descriptions that make it difficult for patients to know the services provided and their associated costs. This forces them to make numerous inquiries to try to understand the bill. Although there are materials available for patients to understand their bills, most people have a hard time doing so.
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Insurance Terminology
Healthcare insurance plans have a lot of jargon like deductibles, co-pays, premiums, and out-of-pocket maximums. These vary depending on the extent of insurance coverage and the monthly premiums. Most people don’t bother to even try to understand these terms and stay unaware of their own coverage. This eventually results in them making un-informed medical decisions and ending up with medical debt.
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Multiple Bills and Statements
A single medical visit can result in multiple bills and statements from different providers. This is true in case of certain diseases that require extensive care with multiple tests and scans. In these situations, each provider’s services may be billed separately, leading to confusion for the patient.
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Unforeseen Expenses
Many patients are often surprised by high expenses that they never expected. These might be for certain tests, niche services, or out-of-network providers for a particular service. Such expenses can often push people in medical debt since they are not covered by insurance plans, or only covered partially.
How Do Patient Payment Solutions Help?
Healthcare payment solutions powered by cutting-edge technology are reshaping the medical payments landscape in many ways. Let’s find out more about how they actually help:
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Increased Transparency
A digital healthcare payment system increases the transparency of medical bills, making them easier to understand for patients. They help provide itemized bills that elaborate all the services provided in detail. This lets patients to know exactly what they are paying for, enabling them to understand their coverage better for future medical visits.
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Patient Portals
Most healthcare providers offer online patient portals that enable people to view their own medical information and bills. A health care payment system enables people to pay their bills through the patient portals electronically. This provides convenience as well as enables patients to stay updated about their health status.
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Payment Financing
A major advantage of health payment systems for patients is the ability to finance medical bills. People can set up a payment plan that would divide their bill into manageable periodic instalments. This helps many patients avoid going into medical debt while enabling them to access the care they need.
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Price Estimates
Many healthcare payment solutions include features for estimating the price of medical services. This information empowers people to make informed decisions about their own medical care. The biggest advantage is the ability to plan the care process as per one’s own coverage and paying power.
Benefits of Electronic Healthcare Payment System For Patients
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Reduction in Unexpected Bills
Increased transparency in billing enables patients to know and understand their own bills better. This means that they won’t be surprised with unexpected costs for services that they didn’t know weren’t covered by their health plans.
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Control
Transparency and the ability to finance medical bills gives patients control over their medical expenditure. Healthcare bills are among the top reasons people either go deep into debt or even declare bankruptcy. But a healthcare payment system helps people avoid such outcomes and have control over their own payments.
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Convenience
Using a digital healthcare payment system offers convenience in terms of ease of payments. People can make payments online from anywhere and even divide their bills into easier instalments. This is not only convenient, but also offers enormous financial security.
Conclusion
Cutting through the intricacies of medical bills is not just about convenience for patients, but also a major push towards making care more accessible. Tech-driven solutions for healthcare payments gives power to patients amidst the growing costs of care and increasing amounts of medical debt. As the industry moves towards value-driven models and patient-centricity, health payment systems will have an increasing role to play in the coming transformation.
