Many challenges can be addressed by a healthcare payment system based on value-based reimbursement.
When a person visits a doctor, they go through several stages of healthcare. Following the consultation, the individual must be tested or scanned, and then return for a follow-up, where he or she may be referred to a specialist, resulting in additional consultations. Organizations such as blood test and radiology labs, physiotherapy centres, private practises, and hospitals must fill out various forms in order to be reimbursed by insurance payers.
An integrated digital health care payments system benefits providers, payers, and, most importantly, patients. These platforms simplify the entire healthcare payment processing process and provide more options for patients to pay at their leisure. Furthermore, provider organisations could curate such systems to their specific needs.
Whether it's a pharmacy, psychiatric facility, assisted living facility, nursing home, veterinary clinic, hospital, or outpatient ambulatory care centre, a digitised payment system integrated with the existing health system allows them to receive payments that are consistent with their established procedures. In an era of rapid digital technology adoption, the ability to integrate a healthcare payment processing with EHRs, mHealth applications, and telemedicine solutions gives providers and patients greater flexibility in receiving and making payments.
Improving patient experience does not stop with improving care quality. It is the overall quality of the time spent with the healthcare professionals that is important. If a patient can access his or her health information, such as vital signs, diagnoses, reports, and treatment options, on the same platform where he or she can make payments, the patient is bound to have a positive overall experience. Payments can be made, verified, and tracked all from the same interface. Providers can also better track each health care payment, which helps small practises manage their finances.
In America, healthcare spending was based on a fee-for-service model. It paid providers based on the number of services provided, as the name implies. This includes any consultation, test, or scan. Unsurprisingly, it encouraged providers to prioritise quantity over quality. However, following the pandemic, an increasing number of people, as well as policymakers, desired to shift to value-based payment systems. As the name implies, it compensates providers based on patient health outcomes. In other words, it gives patients a good return on their investment in medical care.
Patient payment solutions that can adapt and evolve for value-based healthcare are an immediate necessity. Providers have been hesitant to adopt this payment model, but increasing pressure from policymakers and the American people appears to be hastening the transition to valuebased reimbursements. If patients believe they can make payments for the value of care received using their smartphones or credit cards, it will undoubtedly usher in a much-needed change in healthcare in the United States and help reduce spending, which has surpassed $4 trillion.
The case for newer payment software solutions to support value-based care has never been stronger.