Americans are increasingly concerned about healthcare costs. Many have had the all-too-common experience of being blindsided by big healthcare bills after receiving much-needed treatment.
As of 2022, the No Surprises Act protects patients, so they will receive a good faith estimate of the total cost of care up front. Yet along with this proactive legislation, there are unseen hurdles in healthcare affordability. Among these, patients are now increasingly delaying or avoiding necessary care due to cost.
In 2022, an alarming 38% of Americans delayed medical treatment due to cost concerns, the highest in over two decades. Around 27% of the treatment delays were for serious conditions, up from 50% in 2021.
As a result, technology has evolved to unlock better healthcare financing solutions, powering innovative patient financing and improving access. Created in response to patients’ payment challenges, the PayZen Care Card is transforming healthcare affordability by offering an interest-free, pay-over-time option that patients can easily use across a health system.
As the No Surprises Act gives patients better visibility into their out-of-pocket costs, the Care Card empowers them to get the care they need when they need it.
The New Landscape of Hospital Price Transparency
In 2021, the Hospital Price Transparency Rule was passed, calling for all US hospitals to provide their rates in a patient-friendly format and provide an out-of-pocket cost estimator tool or payer-specific negotiated rates for at least 300 shoppable patient financing services. A year later, the No Surprises Act passed, requiring a good faith estimate for uninsured or self-pay patients within 1-3 business days of scheduling the service.
These legislative acts are designed to ensure that patients have clear choices in seeking care and are not stuck with surprise medical bills they can’t afford, from essential procedures to diagnostic tests. Currently, 70% of hospitals are in compliance, reflecting a broad commitment to healthcare price transparency.
In response to more patient-centric hospital price transparency regulations, there are still challenges that need to be addressed, one being the overall standardization of how hospitals present their pricing, which often complicates patient cost comparisons. Additionally, the process of providing good faith estimates can be cumbersome for providers, especially rural providers, and accuracy can vary, especially if estimates fail to account for discounts for financially disadvantaged patients. Fortunately, hospital software partners like Epic are beginning to incorporate tools to assist with creating and delivering these critical estimates. These tools benefit from tight integration with data available in Epic, which reduces administrative burden and improves the accuracy of the estimates.
Many hospitals complement these estimation tools with an outbound calling effort. During these calls, healthcare providers deliver an out-of-pocket estimate and often take the opportunity to discuss patient financing options as well. Various practices include asking for full payment, for a deposit, or to add a payment method on file.
Health systems with a strong process tying estimates to pre-service payments have seen meaningful increases in overall patient payments.
As price transparency requirements evolve, healthcare providers are encouraged to adapt and fully embrace these changes. This is to ensure that they provide patients with clear and understandable information for healthcare financing, thus contributing to a more equitable, transparent healthcare system.
The Unintended Consequences of Healthcare Price Transparency
Amidst these legislative changes, a troubling trend persists, even while hospitals proactively follow price transparency regulations. Patients are continuing to put off care or avoid it altogether due to their inability to afford it.
This worrying trend extends across demographics, with one in four adults delaying healthcare for financial reasons, and among uninsured adults, 60% avoid necessary care due to cost constraints. Such statistics illustrate a stark reality: increased cost clarity, when combined with financial constraints, can prevent timely access to essential medical treatments.
As conversations about cost take place pre-service and become more explicit, the next natural next question is how the patient will promptly pay for care.
Offering an estimate without an affordable financing solution can make the patient experience a less than helpful one, leading to worse health outcomes for patients and ultimately lost revenue for hospital systems. In order to fully embrace price transparency and more proactively offer estimates and ask for payment, there must be affordable financing options that work for patients. When done right, hospitals and health systems can also meaningfully increase pre-service payments in the process and improve their revenue cycle
This is where the PayZen Care Card makes a true difference, for both hospital systems and the patients they serve.
Why PayZen’s Care Card is the Optimal Healthcare Financing Solution
PayZen’s Care Card tackles the challenge of healthcare affordability head-on. This innovative healthcare financing solution, available in physical and virtual debit care card formats, bridges the gap between upfront cost clarity and patients’ ability to pay.
Healthcare providers can present clear, upfront cost estimates, ask for a deposit or payment method up front, and offer the Care Card as an affordable financing option if the patient is concerned about how they will pay.
Patients using the Care Card can split healthcare charges into manageable, interest-free monthly payments. Payment amounts are customized to each patient’s unique financial situation, making healthcare expenses more manageable and giving them peace of mind that they can afford their care.
The Impact of PayZen’s Care Card on Healthcare Affordability
Emily Goertz, UTMB’s VP of Revenue Cycle, attests to the PayZen Care Card’s practicality in streamlining patients’ financial responsibilities. In short, her experience echoes a broader impact: the Care Card significantly eases financial worries for patients, leading to fewer patients delaying care.
“The Care Card helps us offer another patient-friendly option for patients who cannot pay the full amount prior to services. Once patients understand their out-of-pocket costs, the Care Card ensures they will have a way to pay for their care. It is a true win-win.” – Emily Goertz, UTMB’s VP of Revenue Cycle
Beyond patient benefits, the Care Card also enhances financial operations for healthcare providers. It brings a new level of price transparency and flexibility to patient payments, leading to an improved healthcare revenue cycle. This patient financing solution benefits providers by ensuring more predictable and consistent revenue streams from patient payments.
“With the Care Card, we have been able to more successfully achieve patient liability collections.” –Emily Goertz, UTMB’s VP of Revenue Cycle
The Care Card represents a win-win scenario for both patients and healthcare providers. For patients, it means access to care without the burden of immediate, hefty payments. For providers, it is a risk-free way to increase patient volume and payment rates.
Final Thoughts on PayZen’s Care Card and Healthcare Affordability
In today’s healthcare climate, adapting to new patient financing strategies is vital. As more and more systems proactively offer out-of-pocket estimates, PayZen’s Care Card aims to address a crucial issue: patients skipping care due to costs. It’s a practical option for healthcare revenue cycle teams that benefits both their patients and their bottom lines. This innovative solution changes how patients interact with healthcare costs, making it a valuable addition to any healthcare setting.
Consider the Care Card as an intelligent move towards better financial management in healthcare. Ready to see how you can boost patient satisfaction and pre-service collections? Get in touch with us today to learn how your organization can benefit from the Care Card.
