Practice Management

Hi Tony,

We recently looked into this and were very surprised by the total cost.

It's definitely something we're interested in but it's not something our current credit card vendor offers.

Without it creating a lot of manual intervention and human error, I'm not sure how else to capture it.

So needless to say, we're now looking at other options for vendors.

Would love to hear what others are doing.

Sincerely,

Just a word of caution, you need to check the rules of your State before an action like this is started. In some states, charging this processing fee falls under banking rules and the records maintenance, notices etc. that are required are far more costly than the revenue you would receive. There is also the concern that it might be a breach of your payer contract since most contracts restrict the total amount you can charge a patient after adjudication. I would venture to guess it would be seen as a violation for a participating provider under Medicare since the allowable charges are set.  I would look into Venmo or Zelle as a first step before I started looking at adding the processing fees to the payments processed by credit card. Hope that helps.

Thank you Keith! As always such a wealth of knowledge.

I would be interested in how many, if any, groups are offering payments via Venmo and/or Zelle.  Great idea. Please comment if you are.

_____________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­________­­­­­__

Shannon N. Wilson, FRBMA

she/her/hers

Associate Director of Professional Billing

Radiology and Radiation Oncology, CPBO

Mass General Brigham

M (925) 407-6667

massgeneralbrigham.org

Thanks Shannon – I have been in a few client offices/imaging centers when patients have asked if the group accepts Venmo or Zelle. Right now nobody I work with does, but that will hopefully change in the not too distant future. It would be like accepting payment through a web portal, just simpler and less expensive. The big issue is coordinating with your RCM and those are the discussions currently occurring..... ....