Tyler Crawford, CEO of BHG Patient Lending, answers four questions that examine how hospitals can improve the patient experience through patient lending.
Question: If we gathered every hospital CEO in one room, what is the one thing you would want to tell them?
Tyler Crawford: As patients’ out-of-pocket costs continue to rise, hospitals need to consider offering better payment options.
If patients don’t have an affordable way to pay for their procedures, then hospitals are at risk of not getting paid while staff spends valuable time chasing payments.
Nearly half of Americans are worried about not being able to afford healthcare services, and one in two want to discuss about financing. Hospitals need to talk with patients about medical costs and payment options so they don’t lose money or patients.
Q: When communicating with clients, what concerns come up most frequently?
TC: We talk with hospital and surgery center administrators every day and hear a few recurring concerns. First and foremost is providing affordable ways for patients to pay for the care they need. Many facilities offer patient financing credit cards that don’t truly meet the needs of patients (or their facility, for that matter).
Another concern is how to have an effective, non-threatening conversation with patients about procedure costs and financing options. It’s an uncomfortable topic for everyone, but it can get trickier if not addressed at all.
Our customers are also concerned about finding ways to reduce accounts receivables; improve their billing and collections efforts; and free up valuable staff time so they can focus on patient care, not administrative tasks.
Q: How have patient expectations changed in the last few years?
TC: Hospitals need to embrace the financial component as part of the overall patient experience. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, nearly half of all Americans (49 percent) are worried they can’t afford healthcare services. What’s more, one in two patients wants to discuss financing, as reported in a McKinsey Retail Healthcare Consumer Survey, yet only 8 percent received low-interest financing from a healthcare provider last year.
Medical bills can be unexcepted and stressful; when a patient already has their mind occupied with a procedure, the last thing they want to deal with is the additional stress of having a bill they can’t afford to pay. Proactively discussing the estimated costs and offering payment options can reduce the uncertainty they may be feeling.
Hospitals need to embrace this as an opportunity to improve the patient experience. The conversation should become, “There will be a cost, which we estimate to be about this much before insurance coverage. You’ll need to pay by this date. We have payment options, if you need one. Let me give you some information so you can see if one might be a fit for you.” This becomes a much different conversation from: “You owe this much. Would you like to pay cash, check, or credit card?”
If hospitals aren’t moving in this direction to improve the patient experience, they could be at risk for lost revenue.
Q: What are some misconceptions hospital leaders have about patient engagement?
TC: One key misconception on the hospital side is that patients don’t want to talk about financing. However, research shows that one in two patients actually wants to discuss financing options.
One misconception on the patient side is the amount of out-of-pocket expenses they will have to cover. Patients today are responsible for covering about 30 percent of their medical expenses themselves, and this is projected to increase to 40 percent in the future. The challenge is that nearly half of all Americans are worried about not being able to afford those payments, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll.
Being transparent about costs and offering an alternative way to pay can keep patient satisfaction high and help the hospital remain competitive in the market.