Missed patient appointments are a big problem for GP practices. They waste valuable time that could have been used to see other patients, which means longer wait times for everyone. Each missed appointment slot adds to the pressure on already overstretched GPs, making it harder for people who really need help to be seen. Staff also end up spending extra time chasing up no-shows and rearranging appointments. For practices already dealing with high demand and tight budgets, missed appointments just make things harder. Simple solutions like pre-payments and deposits might be the solution that your practice can’t afford not to have.
Yarra Trail Medical is using an online patient payment solutions to make it easier to get paid, reduce missed appointments, and save patients’ time. Erin Manderson, Practice Director at Yarra Trail Medical, shared how the options to take deposits and charge pre-payment have saved the practice money. “We’re using Healthengine to take pre-payment for certain procedures, particularly the more expensive procedures where we need to buy consumables. It’s great because now we don’t lose out if a patient does not attend.”
“With Healthengine Payments, we know that the patient’s card is being checked for funds when they make their booking online, so for cancellations outside our cancellation policy, we can take payment without having to call the patient and chase up invoices.”
Keeping track of every transaction is a huge task. Managing payments incoming from patients and fund distribution for payroll tax can be very confusing, especially when individual practitioners are on different payroll arrangements. “As a growing clinic with lots of doctors – all with different bank accounts – staying on top of who we’re paying is hard. But Healthengine payments makes it easy.” Erin commented. “We’ve had a lot of new doctors start and they’re all set up with Healthengine payments already, it was quick and simple, and they can take control of their own account if they want to.”
“I can happily say that Healthengine is the easiest part of my reconciliation by far – by far! They come through in a batch on Tuesdays and the payments are always in the right doctors’ accounts. In contrast, reconciling the EFTPOS’ receipts with the physical receipts each day is a massive pain.”
Using the EFTPOS machine to take payments can be slow and painful. Erin pointed out, “There’s nothing worse than patients having to stand there at the end of their consult waiting to pay.”
Now, the practice asks its patients, “Can I take the payment through Healthengine?” And they say, “Yes!” They’re happy to get out of the waiting room faster and get on with their day.
GPs, dental clinics, allied health professionals, and specialists can now use online tools to collect deposits and payments, process refunds, reconcile accounts, and follow up on outstanding balances via secure SMS payment links and a conversion-optimised patient payment gateway.
Plug-and-play with: pre-pay, post-pay, deposits, skip payment for medicare eligible appointments, payment request SMS sent with secure payment links, and much more. To learn more about Healthengine Payments, click here.
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