Doctor standing and speaking to a sitting patient in a hospital room.

Receive timely payments while controlling costs

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Visa acceptance for healthcare

Manage costs, reduce risk

With deductibles going up and patients having to cover more of their overall healthcare costs, collecting payments is becoming more challenging. Industry surveys have shown that healthcare providers typically collect only about 54% (on average) of their outstanding receivables, which translates into billions of dollars in potential lost revenue.1 The shift toward healthcare plans with high deductibles exacerbates this issue.  

Effective management of patient payments is a key priority for healthcare providers, including doctor’s offices, dental practices, hospital systems, and long-term care facilities, and it goes beyond just collecting deductibles at the time of care. Simply expanding payment options--such as by accepting Visa--is one strategy that can support both patient and provider needs.

1 Source: MGMA Cost Survey Report for Multi-Specialty Practices, 2012 Report Based on 2011 Data

How Visa can help

Accepting payments with Visa can help accelerate and streamline your payment collection process - and may even help reduce administrative costs. Healthcare providers that accept Visa can enjoy benefits including:
  • Help ensure timely payment and reduce collection related activity.
  • Streamline accounts receivable processing and reduce post-visit billing processes and administrative expenses by reducing paperwork and check-handling costs. A 2012 study found that 69% of U.S. businesses surveyed that accept payment cards saw improvement in some area of their cash management process.2

 

2 Source: 2012 Visa Small Business Cash Management Survey

  • Potentially cut down on manual resources needed to process, track, and research; gain better control over cash flow by knowing when receivables are fully reconciled and processed.
  • Provide secure, trusted options for when and how patients pay, from pre-service consultation to point of care, to post-service billing. Plus, with many patients already carrying Visa Healthcare Benefits cards tied to their health plans, healthcare providers can better serve those patients by accepting their preferred payment method.  

Visa AuthorizeFirst Healthcare Transaction Process 

As the healthcare industry continues to work toward achieving real-time claim adjudication, Visa offers the Consumer AuthorizeFirst Healthcare Transaction process, which provides patients with a new payment option using their Visa card.

At the time of service, the patient can authorize the provider to use his Visa card to process the payment once the claim has been adjudicated and the final amount of patient responsibility is known. This gives the patient a familiar, convenient method of payment and relieves the provider of having to collect after the patient has left the office. Your merchant card processor can help you get set up with Visa AuthorizeFirst.

View the Consumer AuthorizeFirst Healthcare Transaction process

Materials to help you learn and do more

Visa offers a wide range of industry materials created to help you build, market and maintain a successful business. From security best practices to healthcare-specific information, Visa is working to give you that competitive edge. 

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