Each step has numerous tasks associated with it that must adhere to regulatory requirements. Innovative use of technology streamlines this workflow with automation. It happens quickly to ensure the timeliness of the letter’s arrival.

Why Should Organizations Consider Outsourcing Collection Letters for Medical Debt?

Any process that isn’t a core competency has inefficiencies or unrealized optimization opportunities. Your costs are rising. It’s harder to maintain a high level of accuracy, and the benefits of scale aren’t attainable.

Companies choose outsourcing to improve on all these things. You can expect these improvements when transitioning to working with a provider.

• Enhanced accuracy: Transactional print and mail companies use sophisticated technology and frameworks likeLean Manufacturing to achieve high accuracy rates.
• More efficient workflows: Working with experts in the industry improves the process. They use automation,standard works, and continuous auditing.
• Reduced costs: Outsourcing saves you money, as the cost to produce these letters becomes an operating expense only. Budgets are no longer necessary for equipment, technology, labor, and overhead. Plus, you’ll save on postage rates.
• Consistent compliance: Companies that produce collection letters integrate compliance into every element of the job. There are safeguards for data privacy, timeliness, and all other applicable regulations, including FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and HIPAA.
• Customization capabilities: Medical collection letters use approved templates, but personalization can be challenging without the ability to print dynamically. To do this at scale and remove the need for inserts, companies often use theWhite Paper Factory (WPF) method. It combines fully digitally composed files with in-line production to enable customization in every communication.
• Tracking to delivery: You need to be sure collection letters reach recipients. This information is easily accessible through an online portal that provides it in real-time.

Why Choose PCI Group for Medical Collection Letter Services?

You aren’t guaranteed the benefits above with any provider. You won’t get this level of accuracy, compliance, security, and quality with a standard printer. They may have inadequate processes and equipment to improve on these metrics.

Companies trust us to be their provider because of the complete service we offer. Transactional print and mail are all we do, as well. Our approach to these communications has a strong foundation of leveraging technology and process optimization. As a result, we have a 99.9999% accuracy rating, are fully compliant with all rules, and have a culture of quality and compliance.

We’re also experts in transitioning organizations from in-house to outsourced models. Customers receive dedicated onboarding with production workflows tailored to their needs and industry rules.

Learn why so many businesses partner with us by meeting with our expert team.

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.

High-Tech Equipment Ensures Accuracy

The most common way to risk noncompliance is if a patient receives someone else’s information. That means that every document must be placed in the correct envelope. With advanced inserting capabilities, mini cameras scan barcodes to confirm every page is inserted into the proper patient envelope. The level of accuracy with this system is industry-leading at 99.9999%.

If this isn’t a current capability of how you produce HIPAA-compliant patient communications, it absolutely should be. Implementing this technology into your operations is costly and requires training and procedure revamps. That’s far from easy if you do this internally.

Security Is Stronger, Reducing the Complexity of Your Infrastructure

When you tap transactional print and mail companies to manage communications, you don’t have to adapt your infrastructure or add any elements. A provider’s cyber posture is typically well above average, relating to all aspects of data security.

They’ll treat data securely throughout the process with protection for data at rest and in transit. They use proactive monitoring of their networks with intrusion prevention systems and leverage advanced firewall security. Data security is essential for their operations, and they continually evolve to meet current threats.

PCI Group: Your HIPAA-Compliant Transactional Print and Mail Provider

Working with a compliant print and mail partner removes a lot of tasks and the stress that comes with them from your plate. You can outsource to a trusted provider that understands HIPAA. That’s what you’ll get and more with PCI Group. Transactional is all we do; we’re always focused on compliance and making it easier for our customers.

Learn more about our HIPAA-compliant patient communication solutions today.

How to Mail

HIPAA rules state that you must send PHI-related documents through First Class postal mail. In some situations, you must use certified mail, and the recipient must sign for it. When sending it certified, it’s trackable, as well. You should never use standard mail.

HIPAA Notice Revisions

Providers or other covered entities do not have to mail out revised HIPAA notices to patients. Rather, they must provide this to patients when they receive care or services.

USPS HIPAA Compliant Mail Regarding Medical Conditions

Often mailings from providers or insurers include information about a person’s medical conditions. If so, these parties must ensure reasonable safeguards so as not to reveal this. As such, these mailings arrive via a sealed envelope. However, it can’t be just any envelope.

In 2017, an insurer sent communications to members regarding a change in pharmacy benefits and disclosed their condition. Unfortunately, they used a window envelope, so the information was visible. The OCR (Office for Civil Rights), which enforces HIPAA, found that reasonable safeguards were not in place to prevent PHI disclosure. The company settled the HIPAA violation case the following year.

Appointment and Prescription Refill Reminder Mailings

Providers may mail these reminders to patients as a postcard if there is no PHI. Should a person request confidentiality of these mailings, they must use a closed envelope to accommodate this.

Outsourcing HIPAA Compliant Mail and Remain Compliant

With such specific procedures required by HIPAA, many healthcare organizations struggle with the volume and the processes. Some have automation in place but still lack all the checks and balances that protect them against noncompliance. Further, some aren’t aware that outsourcing patient mailings is perfectly legal.

You can outsource all the types of communications identified above. However, when selecting a print and mail provider, you’ll want to make sure they specialize in transactional mail.

Transactional mail providers only generate compliance-related documents. With that singular focus, their compliance protocols will be the most robust and stringent.

As a HIPAA compliant mail service provider and transactional printer, our standards include:

• The ability to monitor the status of every job from the time you provide the data to the to the time of delivery.
• Rigid data security processes: advanced firewalls, limited to access to only approved users, intrusion prevention systems, and encryption of data while in transit or at rest.
• Physical security to eliminate any unknown or unauthorized persons from the plant floor.
• Details and reporting for every letter should an audit occur.
• Advanced technology to ensure accuracy, consisting of printing barcodes on every sheet scanned with high-speed cameras to validate that each one is inserted into the correct envelope.
• A full-time Compliance Officer to monitor all compliance-related work.
• HITRUST certification, which takes security protocols beyond the rules of HIPAA.

With all these measures in place, you can have assurance that your print and mail HIPAA communications are secure, accurate, and compliant.

Have Questions About USPS HIPAA compliant and Patient Mailings?

We’re glad to provide answers regarding our processes, compliance certifications, and operations relating to our HIPAA compliant mail service. Our extensive experience in the healthcare industry drives our commitment to get every mailing right.

Contact us today to learn more.

Patient Communications Outsourcing: Documents, Statements, Letters, and More

Outsourcing patient communications delivers many advantages. Since it’s not your core competency, you’ll find it hard to achieve economies of scale. Here are all the document types a transactional mail company can produce for you.

• Explanation of Benefits (EOB): Payers must send these to patients, both before and after services. The No Surprises Act requires insurers to deliver an advanced EOB to members to avert pricing “surprises.) Depending on your patient base and their average interactions with clinicians, such tasks can be significantly high volume. These mailings also must adhere to timelines.
• Explanation of Coverage (EOC): Patients often receive these when they enroll in a plan. It explains coverage and summarizes benefits. Since every member gets this and they are often unique, it’s another necessary mailing.
• Statements and billings: Clinicians and payers create tons of these each year. They include highly secure information, and their delivery and accuracy impact cash flow. Outsourcing these could improve the process and lead to more on-time payments.
• Patient letters and notices: These documents could contain any information about a service, claim, treatment follow-up, compliance, or any other critical communication. Again, this can be very high volume and may have specific delivery window requirements.
• At-home medical testing communications: These letters reveal test results regarding medical testing kits, such as ones for allergies.

Creating these communications is an ongoing process that never slows down. The number of documents you must deliver increases, as do all the associated costs and concerns. So, why is outsourcing such an advantage?

Why Outsource Patient Communications?

There are benefits to outsourcing all these document types. Working with a transactional provider, you’ll be able to realize these.

Reduce Costs

Operating your own print and mail in-plant. Costs include equipment, technology, materials, labor, physical space expenses, postage, and more. The price tag for in-plants will likely continue to increase regardless of volume. You have both capital and operating costs. You’ll constantly need to upgrade equipment and technology. It can quickly turn into a money pit.

Whereas when you outsource, you have a provider that only focuses on transactional mail. They produce far more than you do, so they can realize economies of scale cost containment. Once you remove all these expenses, you’ll only have an operating cost and can eliminate many things from your budget. That gives you money to put back in your business for growth.

Decrease Downtime and Disruptions

What happens if a disaster shuts down your operations? It happens more than you think. Downtime can occur because of storms, equipment failure, power outages, or cyber-attacks. It can freeze your production and delay time-sensitive information. Even if you have a backup site, it likely isn’t ready to go if things go wrong.

To mitigate this risk, you should select a partner with redundant facilities in two different geographical locations. These operations would be mirror images. If something interrupts business at one spot, the other can pick up with no delays.

Enhance Security and Compliance

Patient communications must be highly secure to meet industry regulations. That means you need robust practices to protect this information and ensure that no mis-mailings occur. Even just a few errors can cause big problems, including possible breaches, non-compliance fines, and reputational harm. Minimizing such risks may be challenging for your organization, but a transactional printer lives and breathes these.

So, what do they do best regarding security and compliance?

• Secure and compliant data sharing that involves encryption and other cyber best practices.
• Physical security that prevents anyone from accessing production areas that don’t have clearance.
• High-tech insert solutions that use barcodes and small cameras to verify that every document goes in the correct envelope.
• Certifications in healthcare compliance, including HIPAA and HITRUST.
• Having a full-time Compliance Officer on staff to interpret rules and implement compliance standards.

If a company has all the pillars of security and compliance, its accuracy rate will be high. We’re proud to say ours is 99.9999%, which is industry-leading.

Include Personalized Messaging

Being able to print on statements and letters dynamically is a capability you can leverage with a partner. Sophisticated technology and a white paper factory offer a blank canvas for each communication. The printer receives the data and prints onto rolls of white paper. This can be in full color or black and white. This allows you to eliminate inserts, which are expensive and not very effective. They end up in the recycling bin, as opposed to the communication, which consumers view.

You can include messaging about anything pertinent, such as:

• Information about other services.
• Reminders to patients for next appointments or to schedule one.
• Instructions on how to remit payment or set up a payment plan.
• Special programs you want patients to participate in that are free but require enrollment.

By placing this on the document, you’ll reduce costs and boost engagement.

Patient Communication Outsourcing: Get Started with PCI Group

Outsourcing patient print and mail delivers so many benefits. You can expect costs to go down while quality and accuracy go up. As a provider of services to many healthcare organizations, we have the expertise, processes, technology, and people to serve your needs.

Contact us today to learn more.

Compliance Is Their Expertise

HIPAA, enacted in 1996, has changed through the years to accommodate for new practices and requirements. When you work with a transactional print and mail company, regulated communication is all they do.

They’ll always be up to date in their knowledge and practices. Most have a compliance director on staff to manage all regulatory updates. It’s their job to be compliant and often go way beyond the minimum requirements of the law.

Tracking Each Letter Throughout the Workflow

You can still have 360-degree visibility when outsourcing healthcare communications. Your service provider should allow you to monitor the status of every job from the time you send the data until the letter reaches the consumer.

Having this capability and easy-to-understand dashboards helps healthcare organizations gain even greater peace of mind about compliance.

Data Security Ensures Protection

A print and mail company that’s handling patient communications doesn’t cut corners on data security. It’s imperative that they use a multi-faceted approach to protect data. Their protocols will surpass what a typical print and mail house offers.

When comparing outsourced partners and ranking their data security, look for:

• User-level security to ensure only approved users can access data.
• Advanced firewall security to block unauthorized network access.
• Intrusion prevention systems (IPSs) detect traffic that could be harmful and ensure it doesn’t intrude.
• Data transmission security while in transit and at rest.
• Physical security with access control so that only those that should be in the space are.

Omnichannel Communication Options

A HIPAA-compliant print and mail provider should also offer multiple channels to communicate. Providing a secure, compliant email channel for invoices and patient letters is a must-have for outsourcing. All these communications are in a central hub, and you can receive notifications upon delivery.

Secure communication is only one component. You’ll find it much more convenient with other features that allow you to send receipts via email to patients. It’s a cost-effective option that helps you meet customer expectations on the channels they prefer.

Always Audit-Ready

Should your organization need to respond to an audit by the OCR (Office for Civil Rights), you’ll want a partner with superior reporting capabilities. You should be able to have complete details of every letter and its mailing and delivery to substantiate your compliance.

Noncompliance Jeopardizes Your Finances and Reputation

Unfortunately, many healthcare organizations have paid the price for noncompliance. The penalties for this range from $100 per violation to up to $50,000, depending on the severity of the violation. Such a penalty could be disastrous for any business.

On top of that, there’s reputational harm. HIPAA breaches routinely make headlines and impact patients. Such an incident could cause those individuals to seek other providers or insurance companies. Additionally, it could cause partners or vendors to discontinue business with you because they’re no longer confident in your security methods.

The best way to avoid this is to work with a HIPAA-compliant print and mail outsource partner that checks all the boxes of the benefits noted above. In concert with that, look at reviews, testimonials, and other proof that they are well-versed in healthcare communication compliance measures.

Enjoy Compliance, Security, and More with PCI Group

As a transactional printer, compliant mailings are all we do. As a result, we have compliance, security, and accuracy as the pillars of our operations. Learn more about how we serve the healthcare industry today.

Higher Volume of Patient Communications Likely Ahead with the No Surprises Act

You may have experienced volume declines for patient information in the past few years. More digital adopters mean less physical mail. Now that trend is likely to go the other way. If your volume significantly increases in 2022 from the No Surprises Act, what will the impact be?

Compliance Concerns after the No Surprises Act

Many documents sent to patients have compliance parameters around timeframes. You can’t be late on these things, so it would be hard to re-prioritize or downgrade some communications. If you manage all these internally, it could be a risky proposition.

Higher Costs

If you have an in-plant, you’ll need to boost capacity to take into consideration the extra printing that the No Surprises Act will generate. That will require significant investment in technology, space, and people. It’s also something that takes a while to implement. If you currently outsource this to a vendor, at least in part, what cost increases can you expect from them? Will they consider these to be rush jobs that have rush fees?

Preprinting Woes

If you currently preprint your EOBs with the framework, you could run into two issues. First, you may have to do more of this and might not have the space to store them. Second, your current template may need changes that are specific to advanced EOBs.

The best solution is not to preprint at all. Rather, dynamic printing from data files is the answer. White rolls of paper go into the inkjet printers, and they can each be unique with no changeouts.

Patient Communications Will Be Different in 2022

You certainly don’t want to be surprised by the No Surprises Act. You’ll almost certainly have greater volume in 2022. Plus, you’ll be dealing with an entirely new type of communication. To transition with ease, reduce costs, and ensure compliance, talk to the team at PCI Group. All we do is transactional mail, and we’re a partner to many healthcare entities. See how we support healthcare with print and mail services.

You may be able to have a rough estimate of your expected increase. Still, you likely won’t have a good handle on this until after the legislation becomes effective. Now is the time to plan for 2022 and reevaluate your entire operation.

Can Your In-Plant Handle Greater Volume and Not Increase Your Error Rate?

Does it make sense fiscally to continue running advance EOB printing and mail through your own in-plant? The advanced EOBs will need the same care as any others regarding data privacy and HIPAA compliance. As you’re aware, these aren’t simple requirements. You have to have a well-designed program in place to ensure that every letter makes it to the correct envelope.

It seems like a simple thing, but with thousands of letters every day, you’re likely to have an error rate. Odds would say that if your volume goes up, so will your error rate. The best way to minimize this is with technology that uses barcodes to scan every document, read by cameras to ensure individual folding. If you don’t have such a solution in place, are you willing to invest in it? It could be the difference between accuracy and noncompliance.

If You Outsource Advance EOB Printing, Can Your Vendor Keep Up?

For those health plans that outsource, you should begin having conversations now about the expected increase due to advanced EOBs. Depending on their size and capabilities, they may not be able to support this influx.

Rethink Patient Communications and Advance EOB Printing

Regardless of what your current system is for advance EOB printing, there are big questions on the horizon because 2022 will look different. If you want to be confident in your ability or your vendor’s to meet the compliance requirements of the No Surprises Act, then consider a new partner like PCI Group.

We provide services to all types of healthcare entities and are HIPAA and HITRUST compliant. Our robust technology solutions enable us to drive efficiency and accuracy, including an industry-leading accuracy rate of 99.9999%. Additionally, we can likely reduce your overall cost due to our lean processes.

Learn more about working with us today.

If You’re Operating an In-Plant, Efficiency Isn’t on Your Side

If you are responsible for the printing and mailing of all patient statement communications, then you’re likely aware of the inefficiencies. Since this isn’t a core competency, it may not be a priority for investment and improvement.

What typically causes issues are things like:

• Pre-printing templates that require storage, which means more square footage.
• Using older print and inserting technology that isn’t as fast, so it takes longer to complete runs.
• Manual processes to ensure accuracy and compliance.

The only way to gain efficiency is to upgrade equipment and processes, which can be expensive.

If Your Patient Communications Are In-House, the Process Is Likely Complicated

Can you easily explain the workflows for your patient communications? While it is a multifaceted process, its overcomplication saddles healthcare organizations with extra costs and ineffective procedures.

There are numerous steps from data to mailed piece. It includes moving confidential data compliantly, printing, inserting, sorting, adding postage, posting, and delivery. There is room for error in every step. You also likely don’t have transparency into each phase through tracking technology. If a mistake occurs, you may only discover it once the patient receives the communication not meant for him or her.

When you work with a professional print and mail shop, you’ll experience processes that are lean, repeatable, and reliable. That’s all these companies do, so they must be as efficient and accurate as possible. They do this with advanced technology that allows for:

• Variable data printing in full color.
• Barcode scanning to ensure the right communication goes into the right envelope.
• Tracking function that advises you where every letter is in the process.

Do Different Statements Require Different Runs?

Another barrier to streamlining and simplifying your patient statement communications is having to perform different print jobs for the type of statement. You likely have several kinds of statements based on the services, if it’s past due, or other factors. If you have to stop in between each, it’s impacting your productivity and how long it takes to get communications in the mail.

What’s great about outsourcing is working with a company that uses the White Paper Factory method. Rolls of white paper go in, and each statement can be unique and personalized. There are no shutdowns, so there are no delays.

Improve Patient Statement Communications

Beyond enhancing the process and accuracy, you can also improve communications for patients. Medical statements can be lengthy and include lots of specialized language that’s foreign to the average consumer. This confusion could lead to lots of calls to your customer service agents and a longer time to remit payment.

You don’t have to be in a “box” when it comes to statement design. With inkjet technology, you can use brand colors, divide the bill into segments that call out the most important information, and make them easier to read and understand. Again, with the ability to dynamically print, this is part of the process, not another step.

It’s Time to Streamline Patient Statement Communications and Simplify with PCI Group

Transactional mail is all we do, and we print thousands of patient statements every day for healthcare entities. Our regimented processes, adoption of technology, attention to detail, and exceptional adherence to compliance make us an ideal partner. Shifting to outsourcing can reduce your burden, save you money, and enhance the quality of your statements.

Learn more about why so many healthcare organizations trust us!

Who Is Impacted by the Law?

The legislation applies to both grandfathered and non-grandfathered plans under the Affordable Care Act. Upon notice of a scheduled service, insurers must send the advanced EOBs. The timing of when depends on when the patient plans the service or requests the estimate.

If it’s between three and nine days, a patient must receive the document within one business day after receiving the request. If the procedure is more than 10 days out, insurers must send it within three business days.

Will Your Patient Communication Volume Increase?

Based on the number of members your plan has that fall under these requirements, you may be able to estimate the expected volume of print and mail to expect. Using other analytics around patient data regarding common procedures, treatments, or services may help you forecast this, as well.

If you already have challenges with your system for printed and mailed patient communication, this could be an ideal time to take stock. Take the time to understand where you can improve it, relating to costs, accuracy, compliance, and overall infrastructure.

For example, if you currently operate an in-plant for your print and mail, can it take on more capacity? How will spikes in volume impact your operations and expenses?

If you currently outsource healthcare communications, are you confident your vendor can support you? Will they be able to meet those quick timelines?

Ensure Compliance, Accuracy, and Lower Costs with the Right Partner

As a health plan, you are compliance-centric, and that’s probably your primary motivator in print and mail. Adjacent to compliance is accuracy, which means you have systems in place to assure that every patient letter gets into the correct envelope. Additionally, you want to reduce costs associated with these activities.

To achieve all three of these objectives, you need the right partner. PCI Group meets all these and more.

• Industry leading accuracy at 99.9999% due to our advanced technologies.
• HIPAA and HITRUST compliant.
• Years of experience working in the healthcare
• Reduced costs in areas of energy, postage, and compliance and the elimination of inventory costs because pre-printing isn’t necessary.

Be Prepared for the No Surprises Act

Just as patients don’t want surprises, neither do you when it comes to new compliance mandates. Be ready for 2022 by rethinking your print and mail operations with us. Contact our transactional mail experts today to learn more.