Lidder Orthopaedics transformed its operations by shifting from labour-intensive, manual payment processes to the automated Patient Payments system. Practice Manager Natasha Weatherill pinpointed the inefficiencies of relying heavily on bank transfers and manual reconciliations as the catalyst for adopting Patient Payments.
Implementing Patient Payments reduced the administrative workload of the staff by 67%, minimised aged debt, and improved overall practice financial management, significantly driving practice growth.
Background
When Natasha took on the role of Practice Manager at Lidder Orthopaedics, she discovered thousands of dollars in unreconciled accounts. This highlighted the opportunity to improve their payment processes and led her to investigate a new, automated system, Patient Payments within their Gentu software.
Lidder Orthopaedics, a specialised orthopaedic practice led by Mr Surjit Lidder, conducts consultations and surgeries, seeing 30 to 60 patients per week. They also set aside one afternoon a week for telehealth consultations. The practice initially relied heavily on bank transfers for payment of these sessions.
“When I started, patients were sent details so they could pay via bank transfer. And then we would have to log in regularly [to our bank account], check incomings, see if any patients had paid for their appointments, manually reconcile it, and it was just a heavy workload,” Natasha said.
Relying on the patient to complete the bank transfer sometimes resulted in errors.
“You rely on the patient to include sufficient details in their transaction’s description to link it back to their account. Despite instructions in the invoice, often patients wouldn’t include anything, or they’d get the invoice number wrong,” she said.
“So you’d have this money sitting there, and you wouldn’t know where it came from, and it would take half an hour of detective work which isn’t a good use of time.”
Implementing Patient Payments
The decision to adopt Patient Payments was driven by the need to reduce time spent on administration and allow staff to focus on other tasks.
Pre-Operation Payment Policy
The practice now mandates full payment before surgery to streamline operations and eliminate inefficiencies associated with post-operative billing.
Natasha highlighted that previously they struggled with securing payments in a timely manner: “We used to charge patients afterwards, but chasing payments was tiresome.”
With Patient Payments, patients can settle their accounts swiftly and securely at a time that suits them. Invoices are sent via email for immediate online payment, removing the need for physical visits or phone calls.
Insurance and Patient Co-Payments
For surgeries that attract a known gap payment, patients can pay via an online invoice sent from Patient Payments via email. The balance is then billed directly to the health fund, simplifying the payment cycle.
Benefits of using Patient Payments
Natasha said the Patient Payments integrated payment system has revolutionised how the practice manages its finances, highlighting several key benefits:
Maximised Staff Efficiency
Natasha believes the greatest advantage they have gained is the optimisation of staff time. “Our time and brainpower shouldn’t be wasted on tasks that can be automated,” she said.
By cutting down manual payment tasks from taking up 30% of her week to just 5-10% for third-party payers, the administrative workload has significantly decreased. This efficiency frees up her time to concentrate on more crucial aspects, such as business development and patient care. This focus is driving the practice’s growth and enhancing service quality.
Reduced Aged Debt
Natasha recalled, “Chasing payments used to take months, with some accounts remaining unpaid for over twelve months.”
The shift to Patient Payments has eradicated this issue, allowing for a more efficient collection process.
“Now, patients can simply click on a link, leading them directly to a portal to enter their card details,” she said. “Being able to get money from patients and knowing that it’s reflected in their account without me having to do anything except send an invoice is a game changer.”
Improved Financial Management
Patient Payments has significantly streamlined financial management at Lidder Orthopaedics:
- Prompt payments & balanced books: Natasha notes, “The books are better balanced, and we’re being paid promptly,” highlighting the system’s efficiency in ensuring swift and accurate transactions that help maintain up-to-date financial records.
- Reducing time on follow-ups: “If I had to sit down and call every patient for payments, it would consume most of my time,” Natasha explains. With electronic invoicing, Patient Payments automates this process, allowing patients to complete transactions independently. This not only saves time but also enhances operational efficiency by freeing up Natasha and the rest of the team for other important tasks.
- Improving operational efficiency: Automating payment collection simplifies revenue cycle management, accelerating transactions and reducing administrative burdens. This efficiency allows the practice to better allocate resources and improve service delivery.
Facilitating Business Growth
And finally, the adoption of Patient Payments has paved the way for Lidder Orthopaedics to concentrate on its most important goal: growing the practice.
Thanks to the efficiency of Patient Payments, Natasha can now dedicate more time to important tasks such as establishing procedures and policy manuals and engaging with GP practices. These efforts contribute significantly to the practice’s scalability and service quality.
Navigating the fine line between managing and scaling the business, Natasha and Mr Lidder are now better equipped to focus on expansion and improving patient care.
Natasha’s Efficiency Score After Patient Payments: 9/10
Initially, Natasha rated the practice’s efficiency as low, around a three, due to the time-consuming and cumbersome process of manually checking which patients had paid their accounts over the past year.
“Focusing specifically on the aspect of Patient Payments, our efficiency rating leaps to a nine. It’s been a game-changer, streamlining our processes and allowing us to dedicate our resources to areas that directly contribute to the practice’s growth and the enhancement of patient care,” she said.
“The ability to send an invoice and receive a notification that a payment has been made and automatically reconciled gives me, and our team, incredible peace of mind.”
Chat to us now to find out more about how Patient Payments within Gentu can help your business.
