Revenue cycle pressured by consumerism in healthcare, vendor report says

The rise in deductibles, copays and out-of-pocket premiums that has turned patients in to shoppers -- a trend known as consumerism -- has put an equal burden on healthcare providers. Especially when it comes to billing, collections and the other financial tasks tied to an organization's revenue cycle.

[Also: How to pick revenue cycle vendors]

According to a new report by revenue cycle vendor Availity, the trend is running pretty deep with providers, led mainly by the spike in high-deductible health plans offered by employers. The report claims 81 percent of employers will offer HDHP's in 2015.

The change has made collecting payments even harder. The Association of Credit Collecting Professionals said the recovery rate was barely over 15 percent for hospitals in 2013.

The following slideshow looks at some of the key trends Availity found that show consumerism's effect on revenue cycle, told in a series of percentages that may surprise you.

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Patients are carrying more burden, the report found. In fact, 85 percent of providers agree that patient financial responsibilities are growing.

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And while 55 percent of providers said self-pay is on the rise, about 60 percent say they are seeing more individual plans than in recent years.

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It's more than a trend, it's a reality. More than 90 percent of providers said that high-deductible plans are becoming much more common.

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About 90 percent of physician practices and facilities said that that collecting patient financial responsibilities before the patient leaves the office is critical, the report claims.

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It's not easy, though. The report claims more than 85 providers said collecting from patients post-visit is a challenge.

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Physician practices say they are collecting from 59 percent of patients while they are in the office, the report said, which represents about 35 percent of fees due.

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Hospitals, on the other hand are collecting from 35 percent of patients at the point of service, the report says, representing 19 percent of patient-owed fees.

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In response to consumerism, 81 percent of healthcare provides surveyed said they recently invested in software and staff to manage up-front payments and collections.

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The report also claims nearly 90 percent of providers leverage either payment plans or post-visit billing to complement their up-front collections.

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Fewer than half of patients are able to pay the full bill at the time of the visit. To meet that, the report claims payment plans are the top choice of 41 percent of physician practices and 52 percent of hospitals for those patients.

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According to the report, post-visit billing is being done by 47 percent of physician practices and 37 percent of hospitals for patients who cannot pay up front.

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Patient access is also a major help, the report claims. More than 85 percent of providers agree that patient access tools significantly improve up-front collections and more 82 percent say the tools improve cash flow.

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The report says 71 percent of hospitals use a patient access solution but only 45 percent of physician practices use one.

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Among the ones not using a patient access solution, 50 percent in physician practices and 60 percent of those hospitals non-users say they are likely to buy a solution in the next three years.

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When it comes to features in patient collection tools, 26 percent of physician practices and 52 percent of hospitals use a patient payment estimator.

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Meanwhile, the report says 22 percent of physicians and 34 percent of hospitals host patient payment discussions online.

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Lastly, only 14 percent of physician practices and 31 percent of hospitals use patient capacity-to-pay tools, the report said.

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