Healthcare organizations must comply with many compliance regulations regarding confidential communications. You can’t send patients a bill without meeting guideline criteria to keep the information in the statement private. Because of the expense and complexity, some organizations outsource patient statement services. Doing so can save you money and time while also ensuring compliance.
If you’ve never considered working with a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant print and mail provider, here are some reasons it can benefit your organization.
Patient Statement Services and Working with a HIPAA-Compliant Print and Mail Provider
You can realize many advantages by entrusting a transactional print and mail company to manage patient statements. Let’s look at those and how they can support your operations.
Accuracy Is No Guessing Game
One of the pillars of HIPAA-compliant patient statement services is accuracy. Each document must have the right information and be inserted into the correct envelope. It seems easy, but with large volumes of mail, it’s certainly not a manual process. However, not all equipment can deliver the same level of accuracy.
Even a few mis-mailings could jeopardize compliance adherence and lead to fines and reputational harm. The best way to increase accuracy is by working with a company that has repeatable and quality-focused processes. By using mini cameras that scan barcodes for each page as the inserter puts them into the envelope, the accuracy of the workflow is industry-leading at 99.9999%.
Compliance Is in Their DNA
A transactional print and mail company only produces communications with compliance mandates. They don’t have it as a side business, along with promotional direct mail. Everything from the factory floor to the technology focuses on one thing—compliance.
Such an organization is always up to date on regulations, has a full-time compliance director, and leverages approaches like LEAN manufacturing and Six Sigma. With all these measures to protect compliance, the risk of HIPAA noncompliance is much lower than what you can do on your own or what general printers can promise.
When you work with such a business, you can be confident about compliance and worry less about the production of patient statements. They’ll leave the facility on time and meet every item on the HIPAA checklist. Once they hit the mail, you’ll continue to be able to track their journey through a dashboard, offering complete transparency and an audit trail.
Security Is Always Top of Mind
Companies that print and mail HIPAA communications are continuously evolving and improving security. Additionally, it’s a part of every step of the process, from how you send them the data to its continued protection. Security protocols that enable this include intrusion prevention systems (IPS), advanced firewalls, encryption of data, and user-level security. Data about your patients reside in this nearly impossible-to-penetrate bubble.
In addition to data security, providers also protect the physical aspect, only allowing those with access on the plant floor and monitoring the premises with cameras and using gated entries.
The security of your patient communications is a priority, with no room for error.
Reduce Patient Statement Services Costs Without Compromising Integrity
Every organization wants to cut costs, and patient statements can be an expensive budget line number. If you’re still doing this in-house, you’re paying for equipment, materials, labor, postage, and overhead costs. As patients migrate to receiving statements online, your price per piece goes up.
Hesitancy around outsourcing is often due to concerns about compliance and accuracy, but that’s not a concern with a transactional company. You can save money without compromising the integrity or security of the mailings.
Improve the Look and Flow of Patient Statements for Better Engagement
Sending statements has one goal—to receive payment for services rendered. A basic document with some lines of explanation and the amount due isn’t sufficient any longer. By improving the design of patient statements, you can:
- Ensure that essential information stands out.
- Include specific content for the individual with dynamic printing and eliminate inserts, which are expensive and typically end up in the recycling bin.
- Highlight how to pay so that it’s easy to understand (including a QR code can direct consumers to pay online fast, too).
- Put key information in boxes to stand out, including the total amount due, the due date, and how to contact you to discuss payment options.
- Use your organization’s branding and colors so it looks professional and credible.
If you partner with a patient statement services expert, they can help you develop a modern, patient-centric statement. You aren’t stuck with the same template you’ve had for years. Improving the design can boost on-time payments, reduce questions about billing, and enhance the patient experience.
Patient Statement Services Are Always Compliant with PCI Group
Many healthcare organizations lament that finding HIPAA-compliant partners is challenging. They know they’ve found a good match when they learn about what PCI Group can do. We support numerous stakeholders in the industry with rigid security, accuracy, quality, and compliance. Find out what you can expect by connecting with our experts today.
