ePAY Healthcare’s services include credit card swipers for the ASC, and a web interface that tells patients how much they owe the facility, provides patients with the ability to set up flexible payment plans and pay what they owe online.
Sheri Amos, business office manager with Mirage, says the ASC was facing a number of collections challenges which led to the surgery center turning to the ePAY service.
“We would call a patient a day or few days in advance, let them know what their responsibility was and they would say they were good with it on the phone,” she says. “Then when they come in for the procedure, they would try any which way to get away from having to pay.
“The only mechanism we had [to collect payment] at the time was a credit card machine and we would put together a promissory note we would have the patient sign,” she says. “We would try to get that done ahead of time, which wouldn’t always happen. We would have to contact the patient afterwards. We would send them the note … and then it was a process of figuring out how to follow up on those letters. It was a real problem; it was a hit or miss process.”
After learning about the company’s services and talking with other users, the ASC decided to start working with ePAY Healthcare. The ASC’s staff went through a half-hour orientation to learn about the services and system, and participated in webinars to further understand the process.
The surgery center then installed the ePAY Healthcare’s credit card swipers at its front desk, with plans to move away from its traditional credit card machine. The amount processed through the ePAY swipers at Mirage reached as high as $10,000, and patients are now going online to view and pay their account balances
“Now, 95 percent or more of payments go through the ePAY Healthcare system,” she says. “With patients able to set up their own payment agreement, I just put in our parameters — with what we’re willing to accept as a minimum. Now that [patients] are able to manage it on their own, it’s really cut down the phone calls.” With ePAY, patients have the option to pay via credit card, debit card, electronic check or Healthcare Spending Account through a system that streamlines the payment process for the provider.
Mirage Endoscopy is seeing financial as well as other operations efficiency benefits through the service.
“The expense of our old credit card machine far outnumbers ePAY’s fees,” Ms. Amos says. “Also, my business office staff is at the other end of the building and the credit card machine is up here in registration. It’s easier for them because now they don’t have to get up and walk somewhere and wait for [the credit card] to go through.
“Patients are also able to get a receipt immediately or have it emailed to them if they want it,” she says. “My verifier, who will use ePAY Healthcare when she’s contacting the patients if they want to pay by credit card, is able to do it from her PC as opposed to getting the information and coming upfront and running it” in the credit card machine.
Learn more about ePAY Healthcare.
Related Articles on ASC Collections:
10 Key Financial Metrics to Measure in a Surgery Center
Appropriately Using Benchmark Collections Data
How an ASC Cut A/R Days in Half: Q&A With Chuck Brown of Bidwell Surgery Center
