MASTERCARD ® HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS
Patient
Payments
PATIENT PAYMENTS
Use predictive analytics to capture more of
the patient revenue you’ve earned
Health systems can utilize the Mastercard Test & Learn® platform to help determine the impact
of strategic initiatives, including identifying millions of dollars in potential incremental revenue and
cost savings across their networks.
Patients face rising healthcare costs and increased out-of-pocket (OOP) responsibility for their medical expenses. Six out of
10 patients had an average OOP expense of between $501 and $1,000 per healthcare visit in 2018.1 As a result, one-third of
insured adults say it is “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” for them to pay their deductibles.2 Complicating matters, the
flow of data and funds throughout a patient’s care and billing cycle is complex, lengthy, and confusing.
Faced with patient frustration and lacking a data-driven billing strategy, many providers struggle to collect what they’re
owed. Indeed, providers send an average of 3.3 billing statements before receiving payment for an outstanding medical
bill.3 It’s not surprising that providers’ bad debt and charity care has been rising steeply since 2000. Tens of billions of
dollars in services that providers deliver each year go unpaid.
AS CONSUMERS’ SHARE OF MEDICAL EXPENSES RISES,
UNCOMPENSATED CARE ALSO RISES
Patient out-of- Patients often Many patients Much provided healthcare
pocket is growing surprised by bill fail to pay goes unpaid
59% 59% 68% $38.4B
of patients in 2018 were of all patients report of patients with Community hospitals provided
charged an average being surprised by bills of $500 or less $38.4 B in uncompensated
out-of-pocket expense an unexpectedly high failed to pay off their care in 2017 6
between $501 and $1,000 medical bill in the last hospital bills in
during a healthcare visit1 12 months4 full in 20165
PAT I E N T PAY M E N T S 2
PATIENT PAYMENTS
Optimize billing with predictive analytics
Predictive analytics can help providers differentiate their billing strategies so that they choose the
most effective approach for each individual patient.
Segment patients based Analyze relevant Develop new billing Measure the impact of
on payment burden, business drivers and strategies customized differentiated billing
services received, past behaviors to to the patient’s strategies to determine
individual behaviors, determine the optimal propensity and the optimum ROI
and other factors billing approach willingness to pay
Mastercard is a world leader
in predictive analytics
>200
HERE ARE SOME OF THE COMPANIES LEVERAGING
MASTERCARD TEST & LEARN
More than 200 leading companies
around the world use Mastercard
predictive analytics to make
business decisions
PAT I E N T PAY M E N T S 3
PATIENT PAYMENTS
How Mastercard helped a $4 billion health
system identify millions of dollars in potential
incremental revenue and savings
CASE STUDY:
LARGE REGIONAL HOSPITAL SYSTEM *
1. Identified a key opportunity
We offered varying discounts to patients and analyzed their responses to identify those who would pay
more of what they owed.
2. Designed and set up test
Our software matched those patients who were offered discounts to a similar set of control patients,
ensuring an apples-to-apples comparison.
3. Measured impact
Analysis evaluated 50 attributes to determine the most influential drivers, revealing the optimal discount
levels to increase payments among targeted patient segments.
4. Delivered maximum value
We developed a predictive model using the identified drivers to determine which patients would be most
responsive to discount offers.
$25M
POTENTIAL INCREASE
$6M
POTENTIAL INCREASE
$290
POTENTIAL PER
in patient payments in revenue from early targeting PATIENT INCREASE
from targeting customized of financial assistance to the in revenue by improving
discounts to eligible patients right patients patient financing program
*Case study conducted in 2018. Future results may vary based on a number of variables.
PAT I E N T PAY M E N T S 4
ENDNOTES
1 TransUnion, “Out-of-Pocket Costs Rising Even as Patients Transition to Lower Cost Settings of
Care,” Jun 25, 2019.
2 Kaiser Family Foundation, “Data Note: Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs,”
Jun 2019.
3 Becker’s Hospital CFO Report, “A new patient engagement model for payment collection,”
Oct 16, 2017.
4 Elavon, “Healthcare Payments Insight Survey Report,” 2019.
5 TransUnion Healthcare analysis, 2017.
6 American Hospital Association, “Uncompensated Hospital Care Cost Fact Sheet.” Jan 2019.
Contact a subject matter expert at [email protected]
to learn how Mastercard is bringing its expertise to healthcare.
Visit mastercard.us/healthcare-solutions
©2019 Mastercard. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark, of Mastercard International Incorporated
PAT I E N T PAY M E N T S 5
