Catholic Health is a New York health system that serves the Long Island area. It has 16,000 employees in six hospitals, three nursing homes and a home health service.
THE PROBLEM
Epic Revenue Cycle was the core technology that would enable the health system to transform its revenue cycle. This meant that there would be new opportunities for engaging patients digitally, and to modernize the patient's financial experience.
Catholic Health believes that patient experience is the heart of its vision. It also recognized that digitizing revenue cycle operations was a key part of its strategic portfolio.
Jade Wanzek (assistant vice president for patient access revenue cycle), stated that "as an organization, it didn't collect a significant portion of patient payments preservice" or had access to technology that would facilitate the operational workflow.
He said that although we tried to inform patients about the cost of their care in advance, it was not done consistently. We wanted to be able collect more pre-service payments and provide patients with a clear understanding of the costs.
PROPOSAL
Epic was used by Catholic Health, who decided to implement Epic Revenue Cycle. It required a payment vendor capable of supporting the pre-service collection objective and offering additional options for electronic payments.
Wanzek stated that "our single billing office also required a payment solution to help us transition from our legacy system to Epic." Epic could be integrated with InstaMed to provide a seamless patient experience, from pre-service to payment and billing to payment.
He said, "The InstaMed integration will allow us to accept payments during the preservice workflow as well as save tokenized payment for future visits or the SBO activities." The integration would allow us to set up payment plans for patients with higher amounts and collect and post these payments automatically, without any manual effort from staff.
"Pre-service is now more than just a way to collect demographic data. It is a strategic approach to our revenue cycles operations and complements the vision of our organization.
He said that InstaMed integration would allow patients to make secure and simple payments in MyChart.
He explained that the InstaMed External Payment Page Integration would enable patients to make bank and credit card payments in MyChart, while keeping sensitive data off our servers. This would reduce our PCI scope. "The MyChart integration will not only satisfy patients, but also improve our patient payment collection efficiency."
METING THE CHALLENGE
InstaMed technology was integrated in Catholic Health's financial clearing center operations to allow patients to be engaged for financial planning and pre-service collection. Pre-service collections and patient education have become core parts of Catholic Health's financial clearing functions.
Wanzek stated that "we've combined our real time eligibility solution with Epic estimator, InstaMed for an end to-end best-practice workflow for price estimations." Our financial clearance team reviews the patient’s benefit structure and notifies them when it is determined that the patient has a $50 payment obligation.
He continued, "When the patient has been identified as a 'digital user', our team uses Epic's digital communication tools like email, MyChart, and SMS messaging to inform the patient that a price estimation is available for review."
"After we have given the estimate, our financial clearance team follow up by calling the patient to explain the benefits and to collect the payment."
If the patient is willing to pay, staff can accept payment. Staff can securely enter payment information into Epic using the InstaMed integration. Alternatively, they can use an external payment page to accept payment.
Wanzek stated that if a patient raises concerns about a high amount of payment during pre-service conversations, our financial clearance staff will suggest a payment plan option to better suit the patient's financial circumstances.
"We can discuss the plan duration and payment amount with the patient, and then establish a payment method to automatically deduct the payments.
He said, "This is a way to ensure that patients are aware of their financial responsibility and makes them more comfortable with the amount they pay." Once the patient has accepted a payment plan, Epic Auto Pay can be used to set up automatic payments or a traditional installment plan.
InstaMed integration with Epic allows these payments to collect and post automatically. This makes it possible for payment plans that are automated without the need for staff. Catholic Health establishes a foundation for patient payments after service, regardless of whether the patient has paid any pre-service amount. This is done by engaging the patient as early as possible.
RESULTS
Catholic Health didn't collect a lot of pre-service payments before InstaMed. Wanzek stated that staff are now able to secure and collect payments during pre-service interactions with patients.
He said, "This integrated patient experience resulted in more than $1million pre-service in the first year of implementation the solution."
Staff have been able to talk with patients about payment plans and address concerns regarding higher balances through pre-service conversations. Wanzek reported that the technology allows staff to create patient payment plans preservice. This has resulted in a 50% increase of payment plans.
He said, "As a consequence, we saw an 112% increase in installment payments volume, which is an increase of $1.3million year over year."
He said that the InstaMed External Payment page Integration with MyChart allowed Catholic Health to offer patients an easy and secure self-service online payment option.
He stated that there were increases in MyChart transaction volume and payment volume between 2020-2021. Total payments increased 27.5% and transaction volume increased 28%, respectively.
ADVICE TO OTHERS
"Implementing technology offers organizations a tremendous opportunity to rethink their traditional operating models." Wanzek suggested that technology should be used as a platform to dismantle silos and reinvent core business models.
"For example, we see pre-service as more than just a way to collect demographic data. He said that it's a strategic approach for our revenue cycle operations and complements the organization's vision. "Don't just add technology to your business without taking the time to assess it holistically."
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