How You Ask Matters: The Hidden Power of Front Desk Conversations
TL;DR: How you ask matters more than you realize—especially at the front desk. Advanced analytics reveal hidden revenue opportunities, enabling strategic incentives that boost collections and financial health.
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A friend of mine recently shared an interesting observation: while managing a busy downtown restaurant, they found that how the hostess phrased a simple request drastically impacted whether guests actually showed up or canceled their reservations. If the hostess politely said, "Please call us if your plans change," guests frequently didn't call. Yet, when she shifted the request to, "Would you call us if your plans change?" guests overwhelmingly said "yes," and most kept their promise.
Healthcare practices aren't so different. Consider the scenario at your front desk. Clerks asking patients, "Can you pay your copay today?" often hear, "Please bill me," leading to delayed collections and strained finances. Contrast this with the more intentional approach, "How much of your balance are you able to pay today?"—a phrasing that consistently yields immediate payments and healthier cash flow.
It’s no surprise that when patients turn to the internet, wondering whether to pay a medical bill now or wait, the overwhelming advice is: "Wait it out—let the practice negotiate with itself." For patients, particularly with recent legislative protections limiting financial downsides like credit reporting, delaying payments seems logical.
But for healthcare practices, this shift has profound financial implications. Historically, practices relied heavily on insurers for payments, confident they were dealing with creditworthy entities—even if insurers occasionally played games to delay payments. Today, however, patient responsibility is higher, introducing a new, unsecured credit risk into the revenue cycle.
One multisite practice we partnered with initially tackled this challenge by simply evaluating which front desk team had the fullest cash drawer at day's end. But surface-level statistics lie. Collecting $450 from 10 patient interactions, when $500 was possible, demonstrates far greater skill than collecting $600 out of $2000 from 40 patients.
That's why practices need advanced, nuanced analytics. OpsRadar provided exactly this: visibility into each collection opportunity, both by volume and dollar value. It didn't stop there. By pulling in outstanding balances for patients and their families, OpsRadar revealed the true potential of each transaction, painting a much clearer picture of front desk performance.
Identifying top performers—and those needing extra coaching—was just the first step. Equipped with detailed insights into patient balances and risk profiles, practices could strategically implement performance-based incentives, driving collections up and improving cash flow. This wasn't guesswork—every investment could be tracked and measured in real-time, demonstrating clear, quantifiable ROI.