Improving Patient Experiences Through Digital Solutions

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Dental providers learned many lessons from the rush to create digital customer experiences during  COVID-19. One of the main insights was that patients expect seamless and convenient digital payment and communication solutions.

The Connected Healthcare: What Consumers Want From Their Healthcare Customer Experiences report, a study on the impact of digital customer experience in 2021 and the source of the statistics in this article, reveals that 35% of younger patients would switch providers if they found superior digital services elsewhere. Read on to learn about changing patient expectations and how your dental organization can meet them.

Create Payment Installment Plans

Incurring debt is a significant barrier to patient healthcare and timely payment for providers. When providers offer a payment plan, they empower patients to receive care and widen their pool of potential customers.

Studies show that 56% of patients are very interested in  payment plans. Despite this reality, many dental practices aren’t yet offering payment plans, leaving room for adoption that can cater to patients’ increasing digital preferences.

One potential solution is to offer patients an income-based sliding rate. It is common to use the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines as a standard. Those beneath the poverty line receive the lowest fees, while those above the line are billed at incrementally higher costs based on their income.

Schedule Through Digital Communication

One of the main touchpoints where providers can upgrade their customer experience is scheduling. Our report shows that 65.6% of patients are very interested in receiving and responding to email or text notifications about appointments.

This fact reveals an opportunity for providers to retain patients. When clients have excellent scheduling experiences, they will likely associate the provider’s name with a unique level of convenience. Patients want simple, clear digital communication.

Provide Contactless Payment

The growing trend of patients using services like Apple Pay®, Google Pay™, and Samsung Pay® reveals that customers want contactless, digital payment options.  A significant percentage of patients have difficulty paying their dental bills. The end result? Providers often lose revenue when users become frustrated and impatient with the system.

The dental community can recapture this revenue by tapping into the customers already willing to automate their payments for convenience. There is also a significant opportunity for providers to benefit from automated workflows and save time and money on accounts receivable by using contactless payments.

Offer Digital Processing

Patients want digital technology to update the traditional in-office experience. The option to receive automated appointment reminders would convince 23% of Generation Z patients to switch from one provider to another. When providers combine scheduling, contactless payments, and installment plans, they create an experience that builds an affinity with the provider’s brand.

These methods of digital processing can increase the speed and efficiency of dental and medical services for both patients and providers.

Get Convenient Digital Patient Payment Solutions from Rectangle Health

Rectangle Health offers a variety of automated patient payment solutions to upgrade your customer experience. Automated options, from contactless payment to online and mobile payments, provide the solutions your medical practice needs to thrive.

Ready to upgrade your digital payment solutions?

To learn more about Practice Management Bridge, Rectangle Health’s healthcare payment
solution, and how we’re helping top dental practices and DSOs capture more patient payments,
increase efficiency, enhance the patient experience, visit our website or contact:

Brian Doyle, VP of Enterprise Sales at 331-625-0648 or bdoyle@rectanglehealth.com.