[February 17, 2017]

Navicure Survey Reveals Different Patient and Provider Attitudes about Patient Billing and Payments

Navicure®, a provider of cloud-based healthcare claims management, patient payment and data analytics solutions, announced findings from its first Patient Payment Check-Up™. Conducted by HIMSS Analytics and fielded in January 2017, the company's national survey reveals key differences in attitudes and behavior between those billing for healthcare and those paying for it.

Notable survey findings:

• 75 percent of provider organizations claim to be able to provide a cost estimate upon request, yet less than 25 percent of patients requested one on their last visit. This indicates that healthcare consumerism is still maturing, and most patients do not know that they can get an estimate before or at the time of service. Providers have an opportunity to improve patient satisfaction by proactively offering estimates.
• Providers and patients disagree on how long it takes patients to pay. Over half of providers (51%) say it takes their average patient more than three months to pay their full balance. Only 18 percent of patients claim it took them longer than three months to pay their last balance. Consumer confusion is likely caused by multiple statements. To eliminate this confusion, providers can utilize credit card-on-file (CCOF) to eliminate statements.
• Among payment methods that a provider organization can offer its patients, patients view CCOF as their preferred method for charges of $200 or less. Additional patient preferences are patient portal (18%), provider website (16%) and automated payment plans (9%).
• CCOF is viewed by providers as the best way to improve patient collections. Twenty percent view CCOF as the best way to reduce cost of collections (22% prefer online bill pay), 20 percent view CCOF as the best way to reduce patient days in accounts receivable, and 29 percent view CCOF as the best way to reduce bad debt and write-offs. Despite broad patient acceptance of CCOF (78%), only 20 percent of providers currently utilize CCOF today.

"Our study indicates strong patient interest in more convenient ways to understand and pay their bills. Ironically, patient demand is ahead of current hospital and practice adoption," said Jim Denny, founder, president and CEO of Navicure. "A new generation of tools are available to improve patient satisfaction and allow healthcare organizations to collect more, faster, and at less cost. Te return on investment is phenomenal. We're seeing a lot of interest in our patient payment solutions, especially among organizations with a high and growing percentage of patient revenue."

"When compared to provider expectations and behaviors, the percentage of patients seeking technology-based payment options via email, e-statements and automated payment plans is indicative of healthcare consumerism's significant influence," said Bryan Fiekers, Sr. Director, Research Services, HIMSS Analytics.

Join Bryan Fiekers and Phil Dolan, Chief Marketing Officer, Navicure, for a co-presentation of the 2017 Patient Payment Check-Up introductory findings during HIMSS17, in Orlando, FL. The presentation will be held on Monday, Feb. 20 at the HIMSS Analytics booth (#2133) from 3:30-4 p.m. EST. The discussion will also be live-streamed via Facebook (News - Alert) Live on Navicure's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/navicure. Full survey findings and the corresponding report will be made available later this year.

About Survey Respondents

Deployed as a combination of two quantitative surveys, research assessed both patients and providers.

• All patient survey participants receive care from a healthcare provider at least once per year. Respondents represented a broad range of education levels, employment statuses, annual household incomes, locales and ages. Notably, 45 percent of patient respondents have an annual household income of less than $61,000, 62 percent are 35 to 74 years old and 36 percent are millennials.
• A large percentage of provider survey respondents are physicians or other healthcare providers (75%), practice administrators (12%) and c-suite executives (8%). Participants are employed by varying organization types and specialties: 45 percent work in an acute inpatient hospital or healthcare network and 55 percent work in an ambulatory organization.

About Navicure

Navicure is a provider of cloud-based healthcare claims management and patient payment solutions that enable healthcare organizations of all sizes to increase revenue, accelerate cash flow, and reduce the cost and effort of managing insurance claims, patient billing and payments, and data analytics. Serving more than 100,000 healthcare providers nationwide, Navicure's complete healthcare revenue cycle management platform, Navicure® Total RCM Platform™, integrates payer and patient billing with an advanced analytics dashboard utilizing real-time data to continually optimize operational workflow and financial results. Navicure's unique 3-Ring® service supports every client with trained, experienced analysts who guarantee that every call will be answered within three rings.

Navicure is the exclusive claims management and patient payment solution of the MGMA Executive Partner network. The company received the 2017 Best in KLAS® ranking for the claims and clearinghouse (over 20 physician) segment. Navicure was also the top-ranked end-to-end revenue cycle leader in three categories as part of the 2016 Black Book™ RCM Survey. For more information, please visit www.navicure.com, or follow @Navicure on Twitter (News - Alert).

About HIMSS Analytics

HIMSS Analytics® is a global healthcare IT market intelligence, research and standards organization assisting clientele in both healthcare delivery and healthcare technology solutions business development to make lasting improvements in efficiency and performance.

HIMSS Analytics offers a wide array of market insight and research solutions custom-created to meet clientele business objectives. Offering a full spectrum of research services from general market understanding and opportunities, to finding ways to improve business effectiveness, HIMSS Analytics' team of experienced analysts and thought leaders guide clients through the fast-paced, highly competitive health IT market to better performance.

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