CUSTOMER STORY:
Stored Card Technology Boosts Convenience and Reimbursements for Pediatrics Group
The Challenge
Improve patient experience and staff retention
More than 80,000 children and their families rely on Pediatric Health Care Alliance (PHCA) for everything from wellness assessments and immunizations to infection treatment, behavioral health services, and even after-hours care. When it comes to a child’s health, the last thing families need to worry about are the convenience and security of their payments.
Before partnering with Inovalon, PHCA had significant concerns over security, patient experience, and staff retention, recalls Don Szewczyk, the organization’s Director of Information Security and Privacy Officer. “First, there’s always a concern for our patients’ parents when they have to make a payment over the phone. Is someone writing down their credit card number? Do they have to worry about someone stealing their information?”
At the same time, PHCA’s leadership knew that the group was not living up to its goals for office efficiency and employee morale. With multiple billing employees assigned to pursue patient payments over the phone, the process was labor-intensive and slow. “We pride ourselves on innovation and integration,” Szewczyk said, noting that the group is continuously searching out ways to utilize technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to eliminate mundane and repetitive tasks.
The Solution
Payment automation and card-on-file capabilities
In their search for a patient payment tool that would provide both patient security and peace of mind, PHCA found Inovalon and implemented Inovalon’s Patient Payment Management™.
“The card-on-file feature has transformed how we take patient payments. We no longer have to call patients and write down their credit card numbers, presenting potential risks to their personal and financial information. They get the assurance that their credit card information is securely stored in our system and no one is writing it down anywhere.”
As the organization grew, so did the urgency to free up billing and front office staff from tedious payment capture tasks while ensuring that patient payments were convenient and secure. Considering the challenges for PHCA’s payment capture and billing office efficiency, Inovalon was the clear choice for multiple reasons, including processing costs and compliance with HIPAA and PCI.
“It just made sense to go with a vendor that focuses solely on healthcare, and one that can give us the assurance that our patients’ information is safe,” Szewczyk explained.
”People want to grow, and they want the chance to advance. They don’t want to be stuck doing manual tasks. If you have someone just processing credit cards and making phone calls to capture payments, for the most part, you’re not going to keep that person for a long time.
Don SzewczykDirector of Information Security and Privacy Officer, Pediatric Health Care Alliance
The Results
More efficient payment capture, enhanced PHI security and improved employee retention
Since implementing Patient Payment Management, the group has not only streamlined the payment experience on the patient side, but Szewczyk said, “It’s [also] limited the internal workflows needed to process payments.”
By automating manual payment capture processes, PHCA billing staff now have more opportunities to grow in their roles. As a result, the group has seen improvements in employee morale and staff retention.
“We had multiple people working on this at multiple times,” Szewczyk recalls.
”Not only do we know that the application is secure and compliant, but it also reassures our patients’ parents that no one is recording their information. Inovalon brings the high level of security and PCI compliancy that we needed.
It’s been such a time saver that it’s allowed us to really take those revenue cycle management employees and allocate their time to other higher-ROI tasks that give them greater challenges and more satisfaction in their work.”
Don SzewczykDirector of Information Security and Privacy Officer, Pediatric Health Care Alliance
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