3 Reasons Top-Earning Practices Proactively Engage Patients in Their Financial Journey

By Blakely Roth | December 3, 2025

Engaging your patients in the finances of healthcare helps to increase collections at the point-of-service but can also be a great way to boost patient acquisition and retention. Patients want to make informed healthcare decisions, especially when it comes to selecting a provider! 

In fact:

• 83% of patients want to see accurate information on out-of-pocket costs before care services  

• 25% of patients have avoided obtaining care due to lack of cost information 

Respected practices and providers put an effort into driving transparency for patients around the finances of healthcare. You can too, and it may just pay off in the form of increased collections and satisfaction! Take action, provide transparency and help your practice grow. Here are three reasons to proactively engage patients in the finances of healthcare. 

1. Your Practice Becomes a Top Choice

Competition for patients across specialties is a growing concern for practice administrators and board members. Considering the majority of patients want to see accurate information on out-of-pocket costs before receiving health care services and one in ever four patients has even avoided obtaining care due to lack of cost information—providing transparency could help your practice stand out.  

Practices are already using patient estimations to provide this transparency and collect on it. One orthopedic practice CEO shares, “Our goal was to allow the technology to handle the finances of healthcare, so our staff can focus on patient care.” She continues adding, “Technology has been more successful in estimating and collecting patient payments than manual efforts. Patients are more inclined to pay when they understand their responsibility and are prompted to pay through private, self-service check-in.” 

Consider how you can use similar estimations technology to create and send estimates to all of your patients. Help your entire patient base understand their upcoming payments, including co-pays, care estimates and even past-due balances. Giving your patients these cost estimates ahead of their appointment will help you provide the financial transparency that new and existing patients want. 

2. Patients Have Time to Prepare Accordingly

Healthcare needs can come at unexpected times. With abrupt health requirements and a lack of knowledge around typical costs, nearly 48% of patients want more help understanding and navigating healthcare options. If your patients don’t receive an estimate, they may come in and not be able to pay or be frustrated by unexpected costs. As a result, practices are left to chase down these patients for payments after they leave the office. If these patients never come back or look elsewhere for a new provider, practices are left to increase write-offs, incur outstanding debt or spend additional money chasing down patients. 

When patients are provided with an estimate of their care costs, they’ll be able to prepare accordingly and come in ready to pay or discuss payment plans. Practices are already seeing this positive response from their patients.  

Consider how to build an automated estimations strategy for any patient coming into your office. Set the right tone from the start through financial transparency and make your patient’s visit about their care needs, with payment responsibility already covered. 

3. Patients Appreciate Privacy When Asked for Payment

Specialty practices are seeing technology as a more successful way to estimate and collect patient payments, versus manual staff interactions. Patients are more inclined to pay when they understand their responsibility and are prompted to pay through a private, self-service check in. Digital check-in solutions remove any awkward interaction around collecting payments, which is important when patients may have past-due balances or staff may neglect to make the ask.  Additionally, with long waiting room times and a busy office staff may already be too rushed to collect payment or even forget to ask. 

One patient registration manager shares, “We’ve always put strong emphasis on collecting at check-in and making sure it’s accurate, because it comes full circle. The kiosks help make it happen, and patients are more willing to pay when they can see it right there on the screen. It’s also nice that they can pay privately, it’s more personable for our patients and helps our staff avoid those awkward conversations.” 

After all, receptionists are not bill collectors. They don’t always feel comfortable or remember to ask for payment, especially in a busy office. Yet, point-of-service payments are critical to secure, especially considering practices typically have only a 30% chance of collecting payment once a patient leaves. 

At the end of the day, the front desk experience sets the tone for a patient’s visit. Accurate estimates and private payment options keep your patient’s experience seamless and helpful, which leads to increased collections.  

Provide Transparency With Ease & Increase Revenue

With real-time insurance verification and patient pricing technology, you can provide simple, accurate and fast estimates to all of your patients. The practices using this approach are already seeing results. 

See how you can use Rivet Health’s estimation’s technology seamlessly with Clearwave’s instant eligibility verification and patient self-registration to unlock revenue growth. Stay compliant and increase patient collections — get started!