If you own a small medical practice, it’s important to understand the different types of healthcare payments you can receive from your patients. This will help you budget and plan for your business. Learn the basics of what every physician should know about healthcare payment processing. In this article, we’ll cover:
- What is Healthcare Credit Card Processing?
- Should Your Medical Practice Accept Payments by Credit Card?
- How to Accept Healthcare Payments
- The Future of Payments in Medical Billing
Healthcare Payment Processing
The process of accepting medical payments via card is called healthcare payment processing. Medical providers use processing companies to receive medical-related credit or debit card transactions securely and efficiently.
This way, you can easily facilitate payments by customers on their own time and terms, allowing for better flexibility in the medical care industry. Not only is it convenient for patients to use credit cards instead of cash or checks, but it also provides added security against theft – a prevalent problem in medical settings.
Healthcare payments: a necessary evil
Credit cards payments are convenient for medical professionals and their customers. However, these payments also come with a unique risk – specifically insurance fraud. Because most healthcare payments go through insurance companies, they can potentially reverse fraudulent charges without you ever knowing it happened. This is why professionals need to be aware of the latest payment trends in healthcare payments and process all transactions – both legitimate and fraudulent – correctly.
Should Your Medical Practice Accept Payments by Credit Card?
As a medical professional, you’re likely familiar with medical payments and healthcare payment processing. But should your medical practice accept payments by credit card?
The answer to this question largely depends on your business model and the needs of your patients. Generally speaking, accepting card payments can be beneficial for both medical care providers and patients alike. Credit card payments offer medical professionals added security, while patients enjoy a convenient and popular payment method.
If you’re on the fence about accepting credit card payments, reach out to your payment processing company for more information. They can help you decide if accepting credit card payments is the right decision for your medical practice.
Why accept medical payments by credit card?
There are a number of reasons why healthcare providers should accept payments by credit card. Here are some of the most important benefits:
Many medical professionals choose to accept credit card payments. These payments are often more secure than checks, ACH transfers, and paper checks. This is because healthcare or medical credit cards use Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) to protect transactions. 3DES is a method of data encryption that uses three separate keys instead of just one.
The ability to track transactions is another reason medical professionals choose credit card processing. This is because credit cards use Track 1 and Track 2 data tracks to store information about payments.
The above are some of the key benefits healthcare professionals experience when they accept credit card payments from patients. Medical professionals should ensure they’re using a processing company that meets all of the PCI DSS requirements. By doing so, medical professionals ensure their patients’ payments are processed securely and efficiently.
How Does Healthcare Credit Card Processing Actually Work?
Healthcare payments go through a variety of intermediaries before they reach your medical practice. This includes insurance companies, billing companies, and credit card processors.
Health insurance intermediary role
The insurance intermediary role is perhaps the most vital of all payment intermediaries. This is because insurance companies act as an intermediary between healthcare professionals and healthcare payers – which includes patients, credit card processors, and billers. Insurance companies help patients and medical professionals negotiate payments and services.
Healthcare billing intermediary role
One of the most common medical payment intermediaries is a medical billing agency. By working as an intermediary between healthcare payers and healthcare professionals, billing companies help providers manage their accounts receivable. In other words, billing agencies ensure proper payment processing taking care of all the necessary paperwork on behalf of healthcare providers.
Healthcare credit card processing intermediary role
The healthcare credit card processing intermediary plays a crucial role in transactions as they ensure proper payment processing. If medical payments don’t go through a healthcare credit card processor, there’s a risk of fraudulent charges going unnoticed, and medical care providers won’t receive the full payment they’re owed.
How do most people pay for medical care?
The most common healthcare payment methods are credit cards, debit cards, and checks. However, there are a number of other payment methods that medical professionals can accept, including ACH payments and installment plans.
Accepting Health Savings Account (HSA) Payments
Health Savings Accounts are savings accounts that are tax-exempt. A Health Savings Account is funded by healthcare payers, which can include both employers and patients, who make payments into the account. Funds in a Health Savings Account can then be used to pay for healthcare services or products.
Accepting Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Payments
Flexible Spending Accounts are spending accounts that are funded by employees. Employees contribute pre-tax money to their Flexible Spending Accounts, which can then be used to pay for healthcare services or products.
HIPAA Compliant Payment Processing
Healthcare credit card processing companies are required to be HIPAA compliant. This means that the healthcare credit card processor must take measures to protect the privacy and security of medical information. In order to be HIPAA compliant, a healthcare credit card processor must train all employees to handle medical information properly and ensure all systems used to process medical-related payments are secure.
Understanding Credit Card on File (CCOF) Policies
A credit card on file (CCOF) policy is a policy that healthcare professionals use to authorize payments. With a CCOF policy, healthcare providers can authorize payments by placing a credit card on file with the processor. This allows medical providers to receive immediate payment for the services they provide.
Pros
There are several advantages of using a credit card on file policy to authorize medical payments. One advantage is that medical providers will receive immediate payment for medical services, which can be particularly useful if providers need the money fast.
Another advantage of using a CCOF policy is that medical professionals don’t have to worry about billing patients. When providers use a CCOF policy, the credit card processor will handle all of the billing for them. This can be helpful because healthcare providers can then focus on providing services instead of billing patients.
A final advantage of using a CCOF policy is that it can give medical professionals a higher collection rate, as healthcare credit card processors can use numerous tools to increase payment collection.
Cons
There are also a few disadvantages of using a CCOF policy to authorize medical payments. One disadvantage is that providers can experience chargebacks if patients dispute the charges.
Another disadvantage of using a CCOF policy is that healthcare providers can experience higher processing fees. This is because providers are typically charged a higher processing fee than consumers.
Other Factors to Consider
No payment is ideal for healthcare providers. While medical credit and debit cards are very convenient for consumers, they also come with some risks that medical professionals need to consider.
For example, medical credit cards can increase costs because patients might spend more than they otherwise would if there were no convenience fees attached to the credit card.
Compatibility and integration with your systems
You want to choose payment processing that will seamlessly integrate with your healthcare systems, so it doesn’t cause undue stress on you or your staff. Work with credit card processing professionals to find out which medical credit cards and debit cards are compatible with your systems.
Fees and costs
You’ll want to look at all of the fees and costs associated with each medical credit card or debit card. For example, if a medical credit card has a high processing fee, that credit card might not be a good fit for your practice.
Rates
You also want to consider the rates associated with each credit card or debit card. For example, if healthcare providers are charged a higher rate for payments than consumers, providers might prefer to choose a credit card with lower processing rates.
Can you get reduced credit card processing rates as a healthcare provider?
Many medical providers assume they can’t get reduced credit card processing rates because of the “high risk” classification of healthcare payments. However, providers can often negotiate with their credit card processors to get lower payment processing rates.
The Future of Healthcare Payments for 2022 and Beyond
Right now, healthcare providers typically have to handle payments themselves. However, providers should expect this to change in the future as more medical consumers use medical credit cards and debit cards for healthcare payments.
In 2022, healthcare professionals might no longer need to process payments themselves because medical credit card processing companies will be handling all of the billing and payment processing for healthcare providers. This will make payments easier and faster for providers.
Payment processors use numerous tools to increase payment collection. For example, processors can use automated clearinghouses (ACHs) to process payments. Medical providers can also use electronic health records (EHRs) to submit payments.
ACHs are a system that allows medical professionals to electronically submit and receive payments from consumers.
EHRs are software that healthcare providers use to store, manage, and share patient information.
Many healthcare payment processors offer both ACHs and EHRs to their customers. This means medical professionals don’t have to worry about processing themselves because processors will handle payment collection.
What are the economic trends of the medical payment industry?
Industry professionals expect the healthcare credit card processing industry to grow at a rate of almost ten percent each year for the next five years. This means healthcare payments will become more common over time, which will make it easier for providers to process medical credit cards and debit cards.
Payment innovations in healthcare
Payment innovations in healthcare are on the rise, and healthcare providers should expect more changes in the payment system in the years to come. It’s important for providers to stay up to date on the latest healthcare payment processing technologies so they can process medical payments quickly and easily.
Telehealthcare
Telehealthcare is a new technology that allows healthcare providers to process payments remotely. This means medical providers can process payments from any location-even if they’re not at their office.
Healthcare professionals can also use mobile payment processing technologies, like virtual terminals, to process payments on the go. Mobile payment processing allows providers to process payments anywhere they have Wi-Fi.
Real-time payments
Real-time payment processing is the wave of the future. Healthcare providers should expect medical credit card processors to offer real-time payment processing in the near future. Real-time payment processing will allow providers to process transactions faster than ever before.
Healthcare professionals can already make real-time debit card payments through debit card processing companies. Healthcare providers should expect credit card processors to offer the same real-time payment processing in the near future.
How Can Healthcare Providers Process Payments?
Healthcare providers can process payments by mail, phone, or online. Healthcare professionals can also use credit card processing terminals or, payment processing apps like paysley, to process payments.
Contactless payments
Contactless payments are another new payment processing technology that healthcare providers should be aware of. These types of transactions allow providers to process payments by simply waving their card in front of a payment terminal.
This means healthcare professionals don’t have to enter any payment information when processing a payment. Contactless payments are faster and easier than ever before.
Which Healthcare Providers Benefit the Most from Healthcare Payment Processing?
Medical providers who have an online presence will benefit the most from healthcare payment processing.
These healthcare professionals can process medical credit card payments, debit card payments, and contactless payments through their website without having to install any additional software.
Healthcare providers who process payments online will also be able to take advantage of real-time payment processing in the near future.
Final Thoughts
As a healthcare provider, you’ve likely had to deal with the balance between providing quality care and managing costs. One way that you can keep your operating expenses low is by accepting payments from patients who want to pay for their medical services using medical credit cards or other payment methods such as health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA). To do so effectively, it’s important to understand how these types of transactions work in order to avoid any compliance risks.
Paysley offers multiple ways to accept payments, making the process easy for both you and your customer. Streamline your entire process with paysley’s unique accounts receivable management software, templated invoices, and seamless integration into the software you already use. Paysley is the best medical billing service of its kind. Try paysley for free!
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