When the coronavirus pandemic overtook the country, telemedicine was transformed from a niche service into a popular and even necessary practice. Practitioners quickly discovered the benefits both for their businesses and for the patients they served. If you have not yet incorporated virtual visits into your medical model, one of the first aspects you need to explore is how to find the best payment provider for telehealth.
Key features and advantages of telemedicine.
As the name implies, telemedicine involves providing medical or psychological services from a distance. For decades, this has been accomplished over the telephone. However, innovations in technology now allow for video interactions.
There are three types of telemedicine.
- Interactive medicine. Doctor and patient communicate with each other via HIPAA-compliant audio and video software.
- Store and forward. This usually occurs when a primary care physician sees a patient in person, conducts diagnostic testing, and then conveys the information electronically to a specialist in a different geographical area.
- Monitoring. This ongoing service enables the physician to oversee critical medical data such as heart metrics or blood sugar remotely using remote technology.
Providing virtual visits provides several advantages. Patients in isolated rural areas can obtain personalized medical care even if they are unable to make the trip to your office. You can follow up with patients to monitor progress and tweak a treatment plan without requiring them to take time off from work or child-care, leading to fewer no-shows and a higher level of compliance. Finally, you can continue to dispense vital advice and feedback even if health and safety concerns shutter your office or require that patients do not leave their homes.
What you need to know about starting your telehealth practice.
To the uninitiated, launching virtual visits might seem as simple as calling your patient from your office at a prearranged time. In reality, however, there are significant privacy and security concerns that require you to take steps to safeguard your patients’ sensitive health information. Just as you must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) in your office and correspondence, you must follow the same protocols with virtual visits.
Taking patient payments over the phone may pose difficulties as well. These so-called “card-not-present” transactions are subject to strict rules by the credit card companies. Additionally, you run the risk of making data entry errors that could affect whether the payment goes through. That is why one of your first priorities when initiating the virtual visits component of your practice should be to find a payment provider for telehealth as well as a merchant account to securely hold your clients’ payments.
What to look for in a telemedicine merchant account.
Now that remote Health Care is skyrocketing in popularity, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that there is a great deal of competition among the many companies offering payment platforms and merchant accounts. As is the case with any other contract or commitment involved in your medical practice, it is important to carefully review your options when it comes to selecting a merchant account and the provider offering it. Keep the following factors in mind as you do:
- Rates and fees. Compare various vendors to find the most cost-effective option. Bear in mind, however, that the cheapest is not always the best. That’s why it is imperative that your payments partner understand your unique requirements to meet patient needs.
- Multiple payment choices. When you give your patients several options for payment, you are more likely to get your funds quickly and without complications. Choose a provider that allows you to accept credit and debit cards as well as ACH payments (echecks).
- Offer recurring billing. This gives patients with substantial balances the ability to pay a set amount on a fixed schedule. The result is less stress for everyone involved, cash flow predictability. and fewer lapsed payments.
- Electronic invoicing. Another easy way to encourage the transfer of funds is to send an invoice via email. In this case, all the patient needs to do is to click on a secure link, provide their card details, and submit what they owe.
- Comprehensive reporting capabilities. Many providers give you an easy-to-use dashboard that gives you access to your accounting and patient information with just a few clicks.
- Mobile connectivity. Your telehealth payment provider can set you up with a mobile-friendly option that allows you to conduct virtual visits, correspond with patients, review billing details, and converse electronically with clients and other providers from anywhere using your smartphone or laptop.
- Superior customer service. As you check out your various telehealth provider options, be sure they make customer service a priority. It is the vital link that keeps you connected with the patients who need you. Should you experience problems or your system go down altogether, you need to have 24/7 access to human experts who can provide immediate, effective assistance.
- Ease of use. A system with all the bells and whistles is useless if it is too complicated for you, your staff, or your patients to navigate or operate. Before you settle on a merchant account and telehealth service provider, be sure that the platform suits your needs and is not overly complicated.
If you’re still in doubt about which option to choose, consider speaking with colleagues who already offer virtual visits to learn what is and is not working for them.
As a dedicated medical practitioner, you are committed to providing patients the most effective care possible. As the owner of your practice, you must be equally vigilant about establishing and maintaining the strong business foundation that will support this care. Telehealth lets you augment the scope of your patient interactions while simultaneously granting you another funding stream. Once you choose the merchant account and payment provider for telehealth that suit your patients’ and practice’s needs, you can begin to take advantage of the many benefits virtual visits have to offer.
