Several members of Flywire’s healthcare team attended the Medtrade Conference last month in Dallas as both an exhibitor and participant – one of the largest events of the year for the industry. The conference agenda included a number of topics including new products, audit and compliance, legislative issues and business operations.
One topic that seemed to leave attendees wanting was patient billing and payment – particularly as it relates to patient responsibility and how DMEs could engage more effectively with patients in the payment process. There were a limited number of payment-related sessions on the agenda, mostly related to payer relations. There were also only a handful of payment companies present on the exhibitor floor. That lack of focus on payments seemed mis-aligned with the numerous conversations we had with attendees about their challenges improving patient collections and increasing cash velocity. Four specific themes stood out in our conversations.
1. DME providers are looking to consolidate billing and payment vendors
Many of the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) providers we spoke with are using multiple vendors, in many cases 3 or 4, to manage the different aspects of their revenue cycles. This has created a lot of unnecessary complexity, resource requirements and costs. There is a lot of interest in finding ways to consolidate revenue cycle management processes with a single vendor that can handle it all.
This is not unlike what Flywire sees with our provider clients. Penn Highlands is a great example of how DMEs can consolidate the different aspects of the revenue cycle process to simplify billing and payment processes for both patients and internal staff.
2. System integration and compliance are critical
Related to the subject of consolidation, we heard a lot of concern from DMEs about the need to integrate any new billing and payment systems with their existing systems and comply with requirements like HIPAA and PCI. These aspects can create an additional burden for DMEs’ IT and revenue cycle teams.
Flywire has a lot of experience in this area given our extensive work with providers. The open architecture of our platform enables integration with all of DMEs’ current financial tools and processes. Flywire’s integrations map to EHR workflows already familiar to Epic and Cerner shops, and while ensuring full PCI and HIPAA compliance.
3. DMEs need more options to ensure patient affordability – such as payment plans and financing options
As patients take on a larger share of the financial burden for their healthcare costs, DMEs are impacted as much as care providers. Higher-priced equipment and supplies that fall outside of their insurers’ co-pay policies create significant out-of-pocket costs for patients. In these cases, many patients would benefit from financing and or installment payment plans. However, most DMEs are not in a position to offer them. Patients have to request them from the DME or home healthcare agency. And when they do, they are generally referred to third parties such as care credit agencies. Essentially, the patient is on their own to sort it out. The few DMEs that we spoke with that are offering payment plans are handling them manually via spreadsheets, creating a huge burden on staff and increasing their financial risk.
Flywire works with a number of providers and DMEs to offer intelligent payment plans proactively taking into account the equipment and supplies required and the patient’s financial situation. These payment plans can typically be set up online via self-service, making it easier for the patient and the DME staff.
4. DMEs want to engage with patients in the payment process
In the past, the billing and payment process was pretty straightforward for DMEs. As patients’ financial responsibility increases, that’s changing. Several of the DMEs we spoke with discussed how much they engage with patients about their device orders and delivery and how little they engage with them about payments. They’re beginning to see the need to engage with them earlier and more often about how they can pay for their medical equipment.
All-in-one payment vendors like Flywire have the ability to work with DMEs to help them leverage what they know about their patients, e.g., the communication channels they prefer and are most likely to respond to, how they prefer to pay their bills, whether they would benefit from a payment plan — to enable more proactive and personalized engagement. This speeds payment cycles and reduces collection costs for the DME while also improving the overall experience for the patient.
How can Flywire help DME payment processes? Learn more here.