Boxed In?
Boxed In?
by Erez Lirov
Breaking things down helps indentify needs, avenue to expore
Will Shannon’s lack of knowledge keep her trapped in credit card inefficiency? How can she find the change she needs?
“Why Shannon, you look radiant!†Theresa said as Shannon stepped into the office. Theresa was cutting down cardboard boxes. “Taking a little break with your husband really perks you up!â€
“I think that this time it’s adrenaline,†Shannon said. “I’m feeling very motivated to fix the issues with our credit cards.â€
“Issues?†Theresa cocked an eyebrow. “Like high fees, errors, and the time we spend on this stuff?â€
“Exactly. I know you said we should shop around for a better rate, and Mike had some ideas, but do we have to have special HIPAA-compliant processing?â€
“The compliance standard for credit card processing is called ‘PCI.’ I know we’re responsible for it and that the rules change sometimes, but I don’t know how we make sure we’re up to date on that. I have heard that penalties for noncompliance are high, though — you remember when Target had a security breach? They paid more than a billion dollars in fines.†Theresa shook her head and stacked the flattened boxes. “It’s no different for health care. Besides, look at all these boxes! This is from merchandise we sell. We’re making good money from that retail area. We should get a POS — a point-of-sale system — so we can check people out easily.â€
“Hold on,†Shannon objected. “I’m trying to make things simpler here.â€
“It could be like the practice management software. That seemed complicated when we were just thinking about doing it, but it has actually simplified our lives a lot — and saved us money.â€
“That’s true. There might be an integrated system for credit cards.â€
Theresa agreed. “If we were able to reduce errors, we’d probably save enough to pay for it. I heard that something like 8 percent of recurring payments get declined, and I’m not sure we catch all those.â€
“I’m completely convinced that errors and efficiency are enough of a reason to make changes, but do you think we can do anything about the size of the credit card processing fees?â€
Theresa thought, her eyes on the pile of cardboard at her feet. “I still think it would make sense to shop around, but I know that the fees are based at least in part on how much volume we have. Maybe making the process easier would encourage people to use their credit cards more.â€
“If it’s about volume, though…†Shannon shook her head. “We’re never going to have the kind of volume Target has. Or even Mike’s rest
aurant. A lot of people pay by check and of course insurance is a big part of our income, too.â€
“Maybe we could get group rates, like with insurance,†Theresa suggested.
Shannon laughed. “I think we need to do some research. At least now we know what we don’t know! Come on, I’ll help you get all this out to the recycling bin.â€
Will Shannon’s lack of knowledge keep her trapped in credit card inefficiency? How can she find the change she needs?
Address verification failures alone can result in losing $15 per every $10,000 in transactions.
Credit Card Inefficiency is just the tip of the iceberg. Without a clear understanding of PCI compliance and a solution that supports it, Shannon’s practice will sink like the titanic.
Return on Investment is always a concern for providers; you never want to be in a situation where you are losing money by offering credit card. Shannon has implanted a workflow system, by integrating Fortis she will be able to process payments to pos items directly, notify office when cards decline, offers patient information security complies with
PCI and HIPAA regulations.
Errors and efficiency should be enough for any practice owner to make a change. Fortis can help with both of these giving Shannon the freedom from feeling trapped.
Implementing a system like Fortis will allow Shannon to improve efficiency by including credit card processing in her workflow. Fortis also allows her to be PCI compliant to avoid fines and penalties that could close her practice.
Can your practice afford to lose patients and money because of PCI penalties for credit card processing? Using Fortis will allow you to stay PCI & HIPAA complaint, while alerting you to declined/expired cards and keeping all your auto-debit transactions in order. Are you willing to keep putting your patients and practice at risk?
Shannon and Theresa were smart to think about claim volume. Larger organizations can often negotiate better rates than a relatively small volume office alone. Before selecting a credit processing company, it’s important to check with any organization you’re a member of, or the billing/software company you use, to see if they have used their size to negotiated a better term for their providers and members.
Figuring out a credit card solution for the office has Shannon and Theresa confounded and searching for answers. With Fortis as their solution they can go back to the business at hand and concentrate on what matters most to them; their patients.