Fuel Medical works with over 1,000 clinic locations across the country. We know that each practice is unique with their own set of distinguishing characteristics.
However, one area in particular where we have found a lot of common opportunities for improvement involves accepting credit cards for patient payments. While we know that it is highly likely your office already accepts credit cards, this article serves to help ensure you are leveraging the latest technology and saving money by avoiding excessive fees.
Allow Patients to Pay You Directly and Securely
A 2016 report on trends in health care payments1 found that 68% of consumers prefer to pay their medical bills electronically. Accepting payments via a gateway on your website allows your patient to pay you directly, securely, at a time that works for them and does not require writing a check, paying postage or even for your office to be open and staffed.
Additionally, adding a virtual terminal to your payment gateway has benefitted many of our practices by reducing clutter, cords, equipment and expensive supplies for the transactions that are processed in the office.
Virtual terminals also automate recurring transactions for those patients that may be set up on a payment plan with your practice. Combined with a customer-facing gateway, a virtual terminal really seems to make the most sense for today’s practices.
Review Your Payment Technology
In addition to making sure your practice is up to date with the most secure and compliant technology, you should also request a rate review periodically to make sure that you are not being overcharged. There are a wide variety of fee structures out there, and many companies make their statements intentionally difficult to interpret so that it is never quite clear what you are paying and to whom.
Our team at Fuel has been very successful at identifying and eliminating unnecessary fees and ensuring our members are not paying above standard interchange rates to the processor. Depending on the volume of credit card business you do, we have saved our practices anywhere from $40 to $800 per month.
Accepting credit cards has always been viewed as a double-edged sword. On one hand, it is extremely frustrating to pay fees on money due to you for services rendered. On the other, it makes life and the experience at the doctor’s office so much more convenient and efficient for your patients.
If you are interested in making a change in how your practice processes credit card payments or would like to request a simple rate review, please email mymedicalmerchant@fuelmedical.com to start the conversation.