Sphere Featured in PaymentsJournal

Advantages of Adopting Flexible Payment Methods in Healthcare

By Ryne Natzke, Sphere and Vince Martino, Chief Product Officer, VisitPay

PaymentsJournal, a leading payments and banking news and information portal, recently published an article co-authored by Ryne Natzke, Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Healthcare at Sphere and Vince Martino, Chief Product Officer, VisitPay.

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Below is an excerpt.

In healthcare, the payment process differs from virtually all other industries in one significant way: patients do not pay for the bulk of the service received themselves because their insurance companies do.

American healthcare consumers have come to expect that their insurers will handle most billing issues with their medical providers. However, the responsibility has started to shift in recent years.  Patients are increasingly paying more of their own medical costs due to rising health insurance deductibles and escalating out-of-pocket expenses.  This year, for example, individuals with commercial insurance will be responsible for 20% to 35% of the cost of the healthcare they receive. For hospitals and health systems, this means that 20% to 35% of their total revenue must now be collected directly from the consumer. …