Why Your Billing Process Drives Your Patients Away

Disorganized medical billing processes can have serious consequences on your bottom line, from inaccurate coding and missing information to legal issues. The bottom line reflects the chaos happening in your billing process. However, did you know your patients are more aware of your billing inefficiencies than you may think?

A Healthcare Consumer Experience Study in 2021 reported that 93% of the surveyed patients commented that the quality of a practice’s billing experience plays a significant role in their decision to return to that provider. As a result, there’s a huge number of patients who are dissatisfied with the billing process at their local providers’ offices. Thankfully, Synapse has caught on to this news and has since improved the billing processes of many healthcare facilities.

Medical Billing Issues that Drive Your Patients Away

Many billing offices simply cannot keep up with the fast-paced demands of the healthcare systems, resulting in dissatisfied patients. Hence, it’s important to be aware of the areas where billing processes wreak havoc on the bottom line. Below are the top patient billing complaints that you need to solve.

Incorrect patient information – this happens when human errors like having a blank field, spelling error, or wrong data are done in the patient’s medical bills. Unfortunately, insurance companies can easily deny a claim because of missing or incorrect information. This adds unnecessary stress to patients.

Missing referrals or authorization – this occurs when carrier limitations and requirements are not understood well by the staff and claims are submitted without the necessary referral or authorization. Without the referral or authorization, the claim will be denied, making patients do the roundabout of claims again.

Finding out services that are not covered – this can drive your patients away since some will discover their services are not covered by their insurance during payment, making them vulnerable to financial stress and restraints. That’s why it’s vital to verify patients’ coverage at every visit.

Key Areas of Improvement in Billing Processes

There is a tall order for healthcare facilities to find the bandwidth to process the sea of details and regulatory requirements for each patient’s claim. It’s easy to fall behind, but there are solutions that can make your billing team robust and accurate, helping your patient’s satisfaction and staying in touch with you. Here are the key areas in the billing processes that you can implement.

Cost breakdowns – patients should understand exactly why they’re being asked to pay any requested amount. This is the reason for providing detailed cost breakdowns which allows your patient to pay you for your services. Larger bills need more than just a number and a due date.

Online payment options – patients have come to expect online options since the healthcare industry has largely embraced the conveniences of the digital age. However, not everyone receives their bills electronically and some practices are still stuck in the old ways. The negative effects of this will be felt downstream in the revenue cycle. Deliver convenience and ease to your patients by adopting the digital innovations of online payment.

Better communication – a huge mistake in many billing offices is the lack of dialogue with payers. Most of them let patients keep track of payer-specific rules and follow-up timelines. Thus, massive leaks in the revenue cycle are created with poor communication. These essential functions, navigating complex requirements and translating industry-specific language, should be handled by the practice billing office.

Overall, we have to consider these key areas for improvement in order to reduce patient frustrations and help them refocus back to the ultimate goal — paying their bills.

How Synapse Can Provide the Best Help

Synapse Dental Billing can leverage a number of expert revenue cycle management services to get to where they need to be. We help your patient retention and bottom line by simply outsourcing day-to-day functions or overhauling the entire department. Our group of medical billing experts can help you get your practice paid on time and in full — all while regularly keeping in touch with patients and payers. Schedule an appointment with us today by calling (844) 384-7532 or email us at dentalsales@synhs.com. Otherwise, you may get in touch with us and send your concerns using our contact form.