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
charged an average
out-of-pocket expense
between $501 and $1,000
during a healthcare visit1
of all patients report
being surprised by
an unexpectedly high
medical bill in the last
12 months4
of patients with
bills of $500 or less
failed to pay off their
hospital bills in
full in 20165
Community hospitals provided
$38.4 B in uncompensated
care in 2017 6

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
on payment burden,
services received,
individual behaviors,
and other factors
Analyze relevant Develop new billing Measure the impact of
business drivers and strategies customized differentiated billing
past behaviors to to the patient’s strategies to determine
determine the optimal propensity and the optimum ROI
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 healthcaresolutions@mastercard.com

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