Maximizing Safety During COVID Resurgence
Although we might have thought the pandemic was nearing an end, the recent flood of COVID-19 cases has forced us to be realistic about our current situation while remaining hopeful about the future. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released new COVID safety guidelines, addressing the highly contagious Delta variant’s emergence, in order to keep people aware of what they need to do to protect themselves.
Maintaining a safe environment for your office’s patients and staff continues to be mission critical. The pandemic created many ongoing challenges for healthcare organizations, including the implementation of and adjustment to rapid technological adoption. Some practices are reporting that they eased the protocols that were once enforced, but as the number of COVID cases rise, once again, it is important for healthcare offices to embrace digital payment solutions that reduce physical contact through all stages of care, especially at the point of payment.
Go Contactless with These Digital Payment Solutions
You may be confused about which payment options you can provide your patients to promote safety. Make no mistake, preparing your office—and your patients— to respond to a rise in cases can be a simple process. By implementing the touch-free and virtual payment options listed here, you can both minimize risk and serve to improve your provider-patient relationships through convenient payment technology.
Rectangle Health offers digital solutions that maximize efficiency and decrease risk of exposure in your office by limiting contact and face-to-face time between patients and checkout staff. Here are 5 contactless payment processing solutions that can help your office operate more safely during the current COVID resurgence:
- Online payments are secure and efficient, giving patients an easy option to pay for their healthcare services. This form of payment processing has popularized among younger patients who value friction-free digital experiences when they visit their providers. According to a recent study conducted by PYMNTS and Rectangle Health, 59.8% of patients choose to pay online on a website. By offering patients a way to pay for their healthcare online, your office can cater to this growing patient preference and stay in alignment with recommended COVID safety protocols.
- Text-to-Pay is quickly popularizing as a contactless payment solution that meets patients where they are most connected: on their smartphones. Many patients are much more likely to open a text message than any other form of communication. According to SMS Comparison’s Justin Grossbard, “Statistics have shown that 98% of all text messages are opened, and 95% of SMS messages are opened and responded to within 3 minutes of being delivered.” This feature is completely touchless, eliminating risks associated with physical contact and close proximity during the pandemic’s stronghold.
- Email payment links are another touchless and virtual way for patients to pay for services. Patients simply click a link or scan a QR code embedded in an email that takes them to a secure payment gateway, where they can complete payment for their healthcare services on their time and with their own device. This payment method eliminates physical contact while making it simpler, safer, and easier for patients to submit payment over traditional paper-based methods.
- Mobile wallets and bank apps like Apple Pay®, Google Pay™, and Samsung Pay® have gained quite a following among consumers who are considered digital natives. Patients can simply hold their smartphone or smart watch over a contactless-enabled payment terminal to make a payment without ever reaching for their wallets. This contactless payment option offers security and efficiency for patients and practices alike.
- Touch-to-pay cards have chips embedded into them that allow consumers to complete payment simply by holding the chip over a reader on a contactless-enabled terminal. In addition to being contactless, these payments are faster than traditional in-person card payments, which reduces the amount of time patients and checkout staff spend interacting. This form of payment popularized recently, and it continues to function as safer payment method as COVID cases increase.
The Practice Management Bridge® choice
Rectangle Health’s Practice Management Bridge is a patient payment and engagement platform that offers a suite of contactless payment solutions ideal for pandemic-related safety concerns. Web-based Practice Management Bridge doesn’t require an on-site presence, with office staff being able to use the platform remotely to collect contactless payments, send customized payment and communication reminders, along with many other convenient features.
Our clients have reported that with our suite of digital payment technologies, they had an abundance of benefits to face a health emergency era that they could not predict. Let us help you weather the uncertainties of the pandemic and provide you tools to streamline office workflows through automated processes as well as allow your patients the contactless, safe, and easy experience at the office that they have come to enjoy.
References
- PYMNTS.com. (2021, July 12). Connected Healthcare: What Consumers Want From Their Healthcare Customer Experiences. PYMNTS.com. https://www.pymnts.com/study/connected-healthcare-experiences-digital-in-person-medical-visits/
- Grossbard, J. (2021, July 23) SMS Marketing Statistics 2021 For USA Businesses. SMS Comparison. https://www.smscomparison.com/sms-statistics/
