In today’s increasingly consumer-directed healthcare environment, patients are bearing more responsibility for the cost of care — to the tune of $352 billion in 2016 1 — and practices are paying a hefty portion of the price. “Traditionally, 20 percent to 25 percent of our accounts receivable (A/R) was patient-owed A/R. Now, it’s 40 percent or higher,” says Brian Yeaman, MD, an independent family physician in Norman, Oklahoma. “And that percentage of collections, and thus revenue, is so much harder to get.” He’s not alone. According to Linda Glidewell, vice president of consumer payment solutions for Change Healthcare, patients pay three times slower than health plans and it costs twice as much to collect those payments. Fortunately, there are numerous strategies practices ca

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