Healthcare Payment Processing: 14 Best Tools Your Business Needs In 2024

When it comes to payment processing, your healthcare company has a lot of elements you have to juggle. Not only are you dealing with HIPAA compliance and industry regulations at every turn, but you also have to make sure you’re using the right coding for medical billing and insurance purposes for each insurance plan. That’s in addition to monitoring your practice’s revenue and making sure patients are paying their bills on time.

These factors are why it’s important to have an efficient payment processing system in place. A more streamlined process helps your practice and your patients by:

• Speeding up the time between invoicing your services and receiving payment from health insurance companies and patients and improving your cash flow
• Automating insurance verification, claims processing, and billing tasks reduces administrative costs and burdens on your staff
• Reducing coding and billing errors and ensuring you’re staying in compliance
• Simplifying payments for patients
• Reducing patient wait times and improving overall patient experience for better marketing through word-of-mouth referrals

14 Top Healthcare Payment Processing Tools of 2024

Medical payment processing isn’t something you can afford to get wrong. That’s why we’re comparing the strengths, key features, and costs of the best payment solutions for health providers currently in the market.

Podium

Podium’s HIPAA-compliant platform simplifies the healthcare billing process with Podium Payments, offering online and mobile payments and payment reminders through text and email. It also helps your practice manage patient communications and reviews. The platform offers many integrations so you can automate your workflows.. Plans start at $399/month. See how Podium can grow your healthcare business.

GoCardless

This payment solution platform is great for membership-based health companies. GoCardless can automatically collect and reconcile one-time and subscription payments and integrates with many invoicing tools. You’ll pay 0.05% plus $0.05 per transaction, and fees are capped at $5.00 for the Standard Plan.

PaymentCloud

PaymentCloud’s payment processing solutions offer online, in-office, and over-the-phone payment options to best suit your needs. You’ll also find industry-specific support for healthcare providers, so problems are understood and handled quickly. Contact the company for pricing.

Stax

This HIPAA-compliant payment management software offers ApplePay, GooglePay, and all major credit cards. The payment processor is both HIPAA and PCI Level 1 compliant, the highest level of security for payment merchants. Stax has subscription-based pricing that starts at $99/month.

Payment Depot

Payment Depot was acquired by Stax in 2021 but still operates separately. This credit card processing platform offers industry-specific integrations with electronic medical records (EMR) and e-prescriptions. It’s HIPAA compliant and has 24-hour fraud monitoring. Credit card processing prices are variable, from 0.02-1.95%.

Host Merchant Services

Host Merchant Services (HMS) offers payment processing without contracts to businesses in the US and Canada. Use their mobile, tablet, or wireless terminals to collect payments from patients easily. Per transaction pricing starts at 0.25%.

Leaders Merchant Services

You’ll find supplemental features such as CRM integration and staff scheduling tools along with Leader Merchant Services’ (LMS) invoice, billing, and HIPAA-compliant payment processing services. The platform also offers 24-hour phone support for practices offering after-hours care. Contact LMS for pricing.

Helcim

Helcim’s all-in-one payment platform for small and medium-sized businesses accepts in-person, online, and phone payments. The invoicing and recurring billing features let your staff spend more time with patients instead of paperwork. Helcim boasts low transaction fees and transparent pricing.

Luminous Payments

Choose your preferred payment solution—flat rate, cash discount, or interchange pricing—with Luminous Payments. The payment processor offers businesses N1 terminals for in-person payments or virtual terminals using NMI Gateway—but no specific healthcare tools.

Flagship Merchant Services

Flagship Merchant Services (FMS) provides in-person, online, and mobile payment processing solutions. A reporting tool called iAccess is included with every account, letting you track and manage cash flow. Contact FMS for pricing.

Square

The all-in-one point-of-sales system (POS) has built-in payment processing and can even accept flexible spending accounts (FSAs) or health savings accounts (HSAs). Square offers multiple integrations, including with electronic health records (EHR) and HIPAA compliance. Pricing ranges from $0 to $60 per month plus transaction fees.

CreditCardProcessing.com

This payment processing company offers customized solutions and pricing based on your unique needs. It has PCI Level 1 compliance but isn’t HIPAA compliant. It doesn’t need HIPAA compliance because it doesn’t access any private health information.

Dharma Merchant Services

Dharma’s HIPAA-compliant solutions support in-person and online payments. Dharma also supports HSA and FSA debit cards. With features like email invoicing, patients can pay their bills with just a few clicks. Interchange and transaction fees for healthcare providers are 0.15% plus $0.08.

Chase Payment Solutions

If you’re looking for a payment processing solution that offers seamless integration with InstaMed, Chase Payment Solutions is a top choice. The tool’s native health management platform connects with most EHRs and is PCI Level 1 and HIPAA compliant. Processing rates start at 2.6% plus $0.10 per transaction.

3 Benefits of Payment Processing Platforms for Healthcare Providers

Medical payment processing tools simplify a complicated process, making it more efficient and convenient to use them than traditional methods (for patients and your practice alike). The benefits include:

1. Streamlining Billing with Payment Processing Tools

Well-run medical billing and payment practices reduce late payments and lost revenue.

Benefits of automated billing systems

Automated billing systems eliminate manual coding and record-keeping, saving your staff time and ensuring all claims and bills are accurate.

Comparison of leading payment processing tools

Assessing your current system to see how long payment processing takes on average—and what your most common problems are—can help you compare and choose the right tool for your healthcare organization.

2. Improving Revenue Cycles

Payment processing platforms shorten the time frame between when services are rendered and when your business gets paid for a better ROI.

Strategies for reducing payment delays

Prior authorizations, appeals, and coding errors can all cause delays in payment from insurance companies and subsequent delays in sending bills to patients. Automation helps reduce mistakes by verifying patient and insurance information ahead of time.

Maximizing reimbursements with effective tools

Payment processing tools can find patterns in claim denials and reimbursement delays so your practice is getting maximum reimbursements for every service.

3. Enhancing Patient Experience

Payment processing solutions offer more payment options and get bills to patients quicker. It also reduces the administrative burden on your staff, giving them more time to focus on patient care and benefiting your health company’s bottom line.

Importance of user-friendly payment options

Having multiple payment options—including online bill pay and digital wallets—lets patients choose a method that works best for them. It also reduces the obstacles patients face paying their bills, increasing on-time payments.

Case studies showcasing improved patient satisfaction

Your health company depends on positive patient experiences. Having an easy payment system and customer-focused staff keeps customers happy and returning to you, reducing turnover and boosting your profits.

What are the most common methods of healthcare payment in the US?

Healthcare payments are first paid by the insurer, with the remaining balances being paid by patients. There are four main methods of health insurance plans in the US:

• Employer-sponsored insurance plans (ESI): ESI group plans outline which providers and services are covered by insurance and for what patients will pay out-of-pocket.

• Medicare: Offers federal health coverage to patients aged 65 and up and to some people under 65 with disabilities. Medicare covers basic health services and medication coverage through Parts A, B, and D. Part C offers patients additional coverage through private insurance plans. The federal government pays set fees for services.

• Medicaid: Low-priced health insurance for people with incomes of up to 133% of the federal poverty level. It also includes the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for low-income families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Like Medicare, the federal government reimburses healthcare providers for services.

• Individual private insurance plans: Like ESI, individuals with this plan type have coverage limited to specific provider networks and services.

Handle Payment Processing With Podium

Grow your practice while improving patient experience with Podium. Our healthcare solutions help you get paid faster through online bill pay. It’s even mobile-friendly and sends payment reminders via text, so your patients can pay using their phone.

If you’re looking to centralize patient and payment data, try Podium Payments, which accepts all major payment options. With features like advanced fraud protection, your health practice can rest easy knowing payments are secure. Watch a demo now to see how Podium can help.