By Clearwave, Inc. | May 2025
Collecting patient payments in a timely manner continues to be a top challenge for specialty practices. For 74% of healthcare providers patient collection takes more than a month, meanwhile 56% of medical groups have reported their time in A/R has increased year-over-year.
Speeding up patient payments is key to maintaining a strong revenue cycle, however it can be difficult with changing insurances, regulations and staffing shortages. The good news? With the right tools—like a smart patient check-in system and automated estimations—practices can accelerate payments while improving patient satisfaction. Here are three ways to streamline collections and enhance financial transparency.
Providing accurate upfront estimates provides the transparency patients are looking for, leading to a smoother payment experience down the line. After all, when patients know what they owe ahead of their visit, they can prepare accordingly and reduce the likelihood of delayed or missed payments. Providing patient estimations, especially during a time where staffing shortages are the norm, can seem daunting, but many practices are seeing impactful results with the right approach. For example, Concord Orthopaedics implemented a revenue-driving estimations strategy that has helped them increase self-pay and overall collections. The practice’s CEO, Jennifer White shares, “Transparency makes the conversation of finances easier for patients and staff to discuss. It truly helps the process run smoothly.”
By integrating Clearwave and Rivet’s solutions, Concord Orthopaedics can automatically get estimates to their patients in a timely manner. White shares, “With almost a click of a button, we get our patient’s eligibility confirmed, deductible balance and what their out-of-pocket responsibility will be for their visit. Then, we get that information to the patient.”
This integration has led to a 22% increase in self-pay payments, with 53% of their growth directly attributed to the estimation strategy. See how it works in action.
Patient engagement software and check-in systems can do more than just streamline registration — the right solutions can also play a vital role in collections. Patient check-in software, like kiosks, provide a significant step forward in patient autonomy and confidentiality. Self-registration kiosks allow patients to handle sensitive financial transactions privately, eliminating potentially awkward conversations about payments at the reception desk and reducing collections mistakes, like a staff member forgetting to ask! By facilitating direct and discrete interactions, kiosks speed up the check-in process and help practices see significant increases in collection rates prior to care.
Also, by settling payments upfront at private kiosks, practices can avoid the pitfalls of delayed billing, which can be a nuisance for patients and inefficient for practices. Considering the likelihood of collecting payments decreases significantly once a patient leaves the office—dropping to about 30%— this interaction is a pivotal to your cash flow.
Practices are seeing immediate impact of patient check-in software. Metrolina Eye Associates are a great example, their practice saw a 40% increase in collections after transitioning to kiosk patient check-in software from a previous mobile self-registration approach. Private, point-of-service payment options are key to increasing co-pay collections and reducing patient frustration around payments altogether, which creates a positive patient experience. As Metrolina Eye Associates’ CEO says, he’s “never going back” to a time before kiosks. You can read their story here and see how they increased collections after implementing patient-led kiosks.
Use patient-led check-in software to collect more than just estimates and co-pays at the point-of-service. Considering patients are more likely to pay when they are physically present in your office, ask for payments for self-pay and past-due balances at the same time! Make it even easier for patients to pay by offering tap-to-pay, card-on-file and other simplified payment processes during check-in.
Rather than relying solely on post-visit billing, practices can leverage a patient check-in system to empower patients to settle a multitude of balances at check-in, reducing administrative burden and increasing collections across the patient journey. Concord Orthopaedics’ CEO, Jennifer White, comments on the impact they’re seeing, “We’re in a better position to collect payments at the point-of-service, or work with patients to pay their remaining balance, versus what we were doing previously, which was to avoid collecting patient deductibles, because we were unsure what to charge or staff didn’t want to ask.”
Clearwave’s patient check-in system helps specialty healthcare practices accelerate collections, automate insurance verification and improve patient transparency. Discover how Clearwave can help your practice speed up patient payments!
Rivet offers accurate estimates of patient out-of-pocket costs and helps you collect payment before or at time of service. Schedule a demo with Rivet.
