Join us as we explore the various billing features healthcare practices look for in RCM companies when outsourcing revenue cycle management.
Effectively managing the financial side of healthcare has become increasingly complex, with delayed payments, staffing shortages, denied claims, and rising patient responsibility putting immense pressure on practices. In today's changing economic climate, approximately 61% of healthcare organizations are turning to RCM companies, expecting them to provide more than just basic claims processing. Modern practices are expecting them to reduce administrative burden, streamline workflows, and improve collections. However, not all RCM Services have the same capabilities.
This article examines the various billing features healthcare practices look for in leading RCM companies when outsourcing revenue cycle management.
Why Practices Expect More From Their RCM Companies
Driven by rising deductibles, widespread avoidance of care, and surging out-of-pocket costs, the healthcare payment landscape has changed drastically in recent years. With patient responsibility at an all-time high and staffing shortages that contribute to administrative burden, there is a growing demand for digital payment options.
Patients are expecting consumer-like payment experiences, while practices are feeling the pressure to improve their collections processes to reduce A/R days. According to a recent healthcare study, payer recovery will rely heavily on adopting industry partnerships, optimized pricing, new care models, and AI-enabled back-end transformations to enhance efficiency and cost management.
What Practices Want From Billing Services Today
- Advanced automation practices
- Better communication with patients
- Easier and faster payment experiences
- Fewer billing-related phone calls
- Improved transparency into payment performance
1. Pre-Visit Payment Solutions
As patient responsibility continues to rise, healthcare practices can no longer afford to rely solely on post-visit billing. RCM companies must offer reliable communication capabilities that allow patients to ask questions, view their balances, see a breakdown of estimated costs, and make a payment online before the appointment even begins. Research indicates that 81% of patients are more likely to pursue care when they understand the costs and payment options upfront.
BillFlash Feature Spotlight: PreBill
PreBill sent via text and email provides patients with a secure payment link that encourages them to submit a payment online before their scheduled visit—in-office or telehealth—reducing balances before they even walk through the door. This not only creates a more transparent patient financial experience but also allows practices to collect patient balances in advance, optimizing revenue flow. Patients who require financial assistance may also explore flexible payment options before receiving medical care.
2. Digital Billing and Text-to-Pay Capabilities
In today's rapidly changing healthcare environment, patients want a faster, easier way to pay their outstanding balances without relying solely on mailed statements. The long-term success of a practice also depends on its willingness to rethink core business models and proactively prepare for a seamless, organization-wide transformation in a growing market.
Features Practices Expect
Healthcare practices want their patients to have a mobile-friendly payment experience with easy access to a secure online payment portal. Reaching patients where they already are—on their phones and in their inboxes—starts with sending eBills via text and email. While only 24% of email billing is opened, text-to-pay achieves a 98% open rate, resulting in a 30% improvement in collection rates.
Mailed statements are equally important, bridging the gap between traditional and digital delivery for a broad range of demographics that may not regularly access electronic devices. Sending a mailed statement with an option to include QR codes can also enhance digital performance, supporting an omnichannel billing ecosystem that reduces friction and maximizes engagement. In a recent Consumer Action survey, approximately 45% to 74% of respondents said they prefer paper statements to electronic ones, finding them more reliable and easier to track.
How BillFlash Helps RCM Companies Deliver
Digital billing notifications sent via text or email provide a convenient way for patients to make a payment online, significantly improving speed and engagement. BillFlash allows users to send a mailed statement the next business day, featuring a QR code for quick online payment. This effective billing solution also enables patients to view and pay balances online, helping practices optimize revenue flow and collection performance.
3. Automated Payment Reminder Workflows
Most patients do not withhold payments intentionally. Oftentimes, they also forget to send a payment or become overwhelmed by a lack of communication with administrative staff.
Features Practices Expect From Top RCM Companies
- Automated payment reminders
- Consistent patient follow-up
- Reduction in manual outreach
BillFlash Feature Spotlight: PayReminders
BillFlash PayReminders automatically sends payment reminders to ensure patients are aware of any outstanding balances. The pre-collection billing service is a cost-effective, efficient way to manage receivables, drastically reducing the administrative workload for both billing services and practices.
PayReminders also enables a series of automated notifications via text and/or email to encourage patients to pay faster. When payment is received, the reminders are automatically stopped, and the patient's account is removed from the workflow.
4. Omnichannel Payment Acceptance
Patients expect convenient payment methods that they already use in their daily lives. This means RCM companies and practices must be able to accept a broad range of payment options, including:
- Digital wallets
- In-office payments
- Mailed payments
- Online payments
- Phone payments
BillFlash Feature Spotlight: BillFlash Pay
BillFlash Pay helps billing services offer healthcare practices a connected payment ecosystem that supports a wide variety of payment channels. This includes credit and debit cards, checks, over-the-phone payments, and mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, available both in-office and online.
Having multiple payment options isn't just a convenience—it's a strategy for getting paid faster. Patients are more likely to pay promptly when they can pay the way they prefer. Some patients want to tap their phone at checkout, others prefer to pay online from their laptop, and some still want to call in and pay over the phone. When a practice removes friction from the payment process and meets patients where they are, balances get resolved faster, fewer bills go ignored, and the overall collection rate improves.
The more ways a patient can pay, the fewer reasons they have not to.
5. Flexible Payment Options for Patients
With over $220B in total US medical debt, more than 100 million Americans are affected by healthcare affordability, which is having a significant impact on collections. Unexpected medical costs and high deductibles are making flexible payment solutions increasingly important as patients struggle to submit timely payments.
Features Practices Expect From Billing Services
- AutoPay capabilities
- Payment plans
- Flexible financing options
BillFlash Solutions
- AutoPay. Automatically processes patient payments when new bills are generated, helping to reduce missed payments and have a predictable cash flow.
- PlanPay. Customizable self-service payment plans make it easier for patients to pay their balances over time, reducing staff involvement and ensuring faster payment.
- FlexPay. Flexible patient financing options that ensure the practice gets paid in full upfront, offering patients the flexibility to pay their balance through affordable monthly payments.
6. Integrated Collections Services
With rising out-of-pocket costs and higher deductibles, collecting patient payments has become one of the most significant challenges facing healthcare organizations today. Many practices are also attempting to improve recovery rates without damaging patient relationships through aggressive third-party collection agencies.
In a recent survey of healthcare organizations, almost 50% of respondents said they are focusing on increasing new collections, with 41% striving to reduce bad debt, 41% wanting to improve the patient experience, and 36% looking to reduce days in accounts receivable.
Features Practices Expect From RCM Companies
- Better visibility into collection workflows
- Greater control over collection activity
- Improved patient communication
- Simpler account approvals
BillFlash Integrated Collection Services
BillFlash also offers integrated collection services that allow healthcare practices to maintain control over which accounts they want sent to collections. This improves visibility into account activity and streamlines recovery workflows. When patients have a valid reason for being unable to pay in full, a payment plan (PlanPay) can be offered to prompt payment of the outstanding balance. Practices also get paid immediately, eliminating the need to pay a share of the recovered amount to a third-party collection agency.
7. Better Patient Communication Experiences
Poor communication can also directly impact payment speed. Disconnected systems, confusing bills, and limited real-time communication options inevitably create friction that delays payments. Approximately 30% of patients report delaying payment when they do not fully understand the costs associated with their care.
What Practices Expect From RCM Companies and Practices
- Clear billing communication
- Consistent patient outreach
- Easier access to support
- More convenient self-service options
How BillFlash Helps
BillFlash helps billing services create a better-connected patient financial experience through:
- Automated reminders
- Digital billing notifications
- Flexible payment plans
- Online payments
- Real-time communication tools
PayerMessages is a two-way communication platform that allows patients to ask questions about their bill on our online payment portal (PayWoot.com) without needing to call the practice. The administrative staff can answer questions instantly and accept payments through the BillFlash portal.
Once a patient's question is answered, they are already on the payment portal—removing every barrier between their question and their payment. There's also no phone tag, no calling back, no logging into a separate system. The conversation ends, and the payment begins, all in one seamless experience.
8. Reporting and Visibility Into Financial Performance
Healthcare organizations want more transparency and expect real-time visibility into current payment trends and collection performance.
Features Practices Expect
- A/R reporting
- Patient engagement visibility
- Payment trend analytics
- Tracking of collection performance
Why Reporting Matters for Billing Services
Without full transparency across the entire revenue cycle, practices operate in the dark, allowing hidden losses to accumulate. Strategic, customizable reporting empowers billing companies and healthcare leaders to pivot from just tracking outcomes to actively improving them.
BillFlash also gives RCM companies the reporting and analytics they need to stay on top of performance, demonstrate value to their clients, and make smarter business decisions.
With BillFlash's reporting capabilities, billing services can track payment activity, monitor collection trends, and gain full visibility into account status at any given moment. Instead of pulling data from multiple disconnected systems, everything is accessible in one place—giving teams a clear, real-time picture of financial performance across all their practices.
9. Integrated Technology Ecosystems
Healthcare practices are growing tired of disconnected systems, with fragmented billing tools and manual workflows regularly increasing errors and inefficiencies.
Features Practices Expect from Top RCM Companies
- Connected billing and payment systems
- Integration of Practice Management (PM) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems
- Reduced manual payment posting
- Streamlined workflows
BillFlash Integration Advantage
BillFlash seamlessly integrates with more than 100 healthcare systems, enabling billing services to offer healthcare practices a better-connected, more automated revenue cycle experience.
RCM Companies That Modernize the Patient Payment Experience Win More Business
In today's changing market, healthcare practices are no longer seeking billing services that can only handle submitting claims. They also want strategic RCM partners that help:
- Accelerate payments
- Modernize the financial experience
- Reduce administrative burden
- Simplify patient payments
RCM companies that offer connected workflows, digital billing, flexible payment options, integrated collections, and payment automation will be much better positioned to attract and retain healthcare clients.
Looking to Help Your Client Accelerate Payments and Modernize the Patient Financial Experience?
Schedule a demo with BillFlash today to learn how our billing, payment, and collection software can help RCM companies deliver unsurpassed value to healthcare practices.