Patient Payment Software

A patient payment solution is software that enables healthcare practices to collect patient financial responsibility at every point in the care journey — before, during, or after a visit — by automating collections, surfacing accurate cost estimates and integrating directly with the practice management system so revenue is captured without adding front desk burden.

Modern specialty practices can't afford to chase payments after the visit, especially when they’re facing only a 30% chance of payment after the day of service. With patient responsibility now representing a growing share of total revenue, the practices that collect consistently are the ones that make payment effortless at every touchpoint — from pre-registration through check-out.

Collect More at Check-In Without Staff Intervention

The window to collect from patients is narrow. Industry data shows the probability of collecting a balance drops to just 30% once a patient walks out the door. Patient-led kiosks and digital registration tools solve this by presenting financial responsibility directly to the patient as a natural step in the check-in flow — removing the need for staff to initiate the ask. Clearwave clients consistently see 96% of patients making a payment during check-in, with an overall collection rate increase of 85%.

As Tiara Williams, Patient Registration Manager at Jordan-Young Institute — a practice with 37+ providers on staff — shared: "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."

Accelerate Collections With Modern Payment Methods

Point-of-service collections don't stop at co-pays. A complete patient payment solution supports tap-to-pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, card-on-file enrollment, and text-to-pay — giving patients the flexibility to pay how they prefer while accelerating cash flow for the practice.

As Sonali Parry, Therapy Director at CAO Division 28, a multi-location orthopedic group, described it: "It's impactful that we're able to take payments in a way that's automatic, private and digital. Our practice gets paid faster — we're increasing payments and I'm seeing more people leaving a credit card on file."

Eliminate Claim Rejections Before They Stall Revenue

Payment accuracy starts with eligibility. A patient payment solution that integrates real-time eligibility verification with collections ensures that the amount being presented at check-in is based on verified insurance data — not assumptions. Clearwave clients see an 83% drop in first-pass denial rates by automatically identifying insurance discrepancies before the patient arrives, ensuring collections are accurate from the first touchpoint.

See how Clearwave helps specialty practices build a payment strategy that collects more at check-in, eliminates billing errors, and turns every patient visit into a protected revenue event.

Credit card surcharging for specialty practices is a legally permissible strategy in most states that offsets processing fees — typically 2–4% per transaction — by applying a compliant surcharge to credit card payments, while excluding debit, HSA, FSA cards, and Medicare or Medicaid-covered services as required by law.

For mid-to-large specialty groups, this is no longer a fringe consideration. As processing fees on high credit card volumes compound, practices are re-examining whether absorbing those costs is a sustainable choice. One in four healthcare transactions now includes a surcharge — and 30% of healthcare leaders are actively exploring or have already implemented surcharging to protect margins.

The Financial Case Is Direct

A multi-location orthopedic practice processing $12 million annually in credit card payments could be absorbing $240,000 to $360,000 per year in merchant fees alone. A compliant 3% surcharge applied through an automated system could offset most of those costs — protecting up to $300,000+ annually in margin. That's equivalent to the cost of 3–5 staff members, a meaningful technology reinvestment, or the runway to expand provider capacity. Dive Deeper.

Compliance Is Non-Negotiable and Automatable

Surcharging in healthcare comes with firm regulatory guardrails that practices must follow: no surcharging of Medicare or Medicaid-covered services, no surcharging of debit, HSA, or FSA cards, a 3% cap on Visa transactions, pre-transaction disclosure requirements, and itemized receipts. Attempting to manage these determinations manually introduces significant error risk and staff burden.

Clearwave's surcharging capability automates these determinations and presents the fee to the patient at the point-of-service with the required disclosure. Staff are not required to calculate, explain or enforce anything. Compliance is handled in the workflow, and patients are prompted to pay.

Surcharging is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Practices that process high credit card volumes, operate across multiple locations and have an existing digital patient journey are best positioned to implement it successfully.

See how Clearwave is helping specialty practices evaluate, implement and automate surcharging — with the compliance accuracy and patient transparency tools to do it right.

Pre-registration payment in healthcare is the collection of a patient's financial responsibility — co-pays, outstanding balances, or self-pay amounts — before the patient arrives for their appointment, completed as part of a digital pre-registration workflow sent by text or email.

With this approach, payment becomes a natural step patients complete on their own time, before they ever walk through the door, reducing in-office complexities and billing write-offs down the line.

Shorten Check-In and Protect Day-of Revenue

When patients complete pre-registration — confirming demographics, insurance, consents and payment — before their visit, the check-in experience becomes a confirmation, not a data collection process. Afterwards, patients always receive a receipt for the payment processed so they’re in the loop. For high-volume practices managing tight appointment windows, this reduction in per-patient check-in time is immediately felt across the schedule.

Close the Gap Before the Claim

Pre-registration payment works best when it's paired with real-time eligibility verification. Before a patient is prompted to pay, their insurance should already be verified multiple times, ensuring the amount requested reflects their actual responsibility, not a system estimate.

Comprehensive EyeCare Partners, a physician-led organization with 100+ providers across 50+ locations, built their pre-visit workflow around exactly this combination and has increased point-of-service payments by 154% as a result. As Chad Jackson, Regional VP, shared, "Clearwave is the gold standard. They have a very robust eligibility verification tool that helps us make sure we've got everything right before the patient walks in. Combined with a great pre-registration process, we're able to gather the patient data we need to ensure accurate collections at check-in and reduce backend challenges."

Reduce the Burden of Post-Visit Collections

The further a balance moves past the point-of-service, the harder it is to collect. Practices that shift payment earlier in the journey—to pre-registration or check-in—consistently recover more revenue without adding collection staff or processes. Pre-registration creates a structured, patient-led moment to address financial responsibility while engagement is at its highest and the visit is still motivating action.

See how Clearwave helps specialty practices move payment earlier in the patient journey — reducing day-of friction, improving cash flow, and protecting revenue before the appointment begins.

A good co-pay collection rate for medical practices is typically 75% or higher, with top-performing practices reaching 90–95%+ by collecting at the point of service.

Industry Benchmark for Co-Pay Collection Rates

Many practices don’t track their co-pay collection rate closely—but it’s one of the most important revenue metrics to monitor. A 75% co-pay collection rate is considered a healthy baseline goal, while high-performing practices consistently exceed that benchmark. However, a 'good' collection rate can depend on specialty, patient demographics and other factors.

Ultimately, the top way to increase co-pay collection rates is through patient-led payment tools.

Depending on your approach, collecting accurate and timely co-pay collections can be more challenging than it should be. If there’s a better way—one that will drive consistency—it’s time to try it. By improving co-pay determination and leveraging digital collection methods at the point-of-service, your practice can drive an 85% boost in collections. Here’s how to increase co-pay collections and other patient balances in two easy steps.

What Top-Performing Practices Achieve

For example, Clearwave practices, those prioritizing accurate eligibility and point-of-service collections, often see dramatic improvements:

• Up to 90–96% co-pay collections at check-in on average
• An 85-154% boost in collection rates at the time of service

These results show that your collection rate is not fixed—it’s directly tied to your processes and technology.

Why Most Practices Fall Below Benchmark

Many organizations struggle to reach even 50% because they:

• Rely on staff to manually collect payments
• Don’t verify patient responsibility accurately ahead of visits
• Send bills after the visit instead of collecting upfront

These barriers create missed revenue opportunities and increased administrative burden.

How to Improve Your Co-Pay Collection Rate

High-performing practices follow three key strategies:

• • Accurately determine co-pays before the visit
  • Collect at every check-in using digital tools
  • Automate payment workflows to remove staff dependency

You can dive deeper into these strategies here:

• How to increase co-pay collections in 2 easy steps
• Assessing your co-pay collection rate and how to improve it
• 3 easy steps to increase upfront point-of-service collections

The Bottom Line

Modern, high-performing practices are achieving 90%+ consistently by shifting to patient-led, automated payment experiences. See how Clearwave helps practices increase collections and accelerate revenue by taking a demo.

The best patient engagement solution to increase collections is a platform that automates eligibility verification, enables upfront payments and empowers patients to take control of their financial responsibility.

For example, Clearwave helps healthcare organizations of all specialties and sizes operate more efficiently while improving both patient experience and financial outcomes. Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists (OSMS) is a great example of a large organization that achieved an 85% increase in collections after launching Clearwave Registration. Sandy Titulaer, BSN, RN and Clinical Applications Manager, says, “We’ve seen a clear rise in collections. The self-registration process makes it easy for patients to pay at check-in, while also helping us capture past-due balances and upfront payments for services like injections.”

Why Patient Engagement Drives Collections

As patient financial responsibility continues to rise, traditional billing methods are becoming less effective. Industry benchmarks show many organizations collect only a fraction of patient balances after the visit, meanwhile, the probability of collecting once a patient leaves the office is only 30%.

These insights make it clear: upfront engagement around payments is critical to revenue performance for healthcare organizations. Practices that shift collections to the point-of-service thruogh patient-led solutions consistently outperform those relying on post-visit billing.

Prioritizes Collections to the Point-of-Service

The most effective patient engagement solutions help practices collect before or at check-in—when payment likelihood is highest. Top-performing organizations using Clearwave-like workflows have achieved 74-100% co-pay collection rates and an 154% boost in collections at the time of service.

Expands What You Collect (Not Just Co-Pays)

Leading solutions go beyond co-pays and capture:

• Deductibles
• Past-due balances
• Self-pay responsibility
• Estimated patient responsibility

Expanding the scope of collections ensures practices capture a larger portion of revenue upfront instead of chasing it later. Here are three easy steps you can use right now to make this shift.

Reduces Staff Burden While Increasing Revenue

Patient-led tools—like kiosks, mobile registration and automated communications—remove the need for staff to manually request payments. At OSMS, this shift led to measurable improvements in both efficiency and collections.

Titulaer adds, “Prior to Clearwave, some of our staff did not feel comfortable asking for payments at check-in. Now, patients can see what’s due and most of the time they just make the payment as part of the process. We’re no longer reliant on our staff to make the ask and patients cannot simply skip the payment within Clearwave.”

The best patient engagement solutions don’t just digitize workflows—they transform revenue performance by increasing upfront collections, reducing missed payments and making it easier for patients to pay. See how you can take similar action to ensure financial resiliance — read our guide on 4 Smart Strategies to Get Patients to Pay You — Easier & Faster.