Debunking Electronic Payment Misconceptions to Increase Your Practice’s Payment Efficiency
As an office manager at a dental practice, you are often at the forefront of operational changes that can significantly impact your practice’s efficiency, including the payment process. The financial experience—and having to work with both patients and payors—can be complicated, but there are changes you can implement to ease the administrative burden.
One way to simplify the payment process is by championing the shift from paper checks to electronic payments through electronic remittance advice (ERA) and electronic funds transfer (EFT).
According to a 2024 Humana survey, 69% of respondents indicated ERAs/EFTs as the preferred payment method compared to paper checks (49%). Yet perception challenges are preventing offices from making the change.
Having a better understanding of how simple the adoption process can be for ERAs/EFTs can greatly ease long-held misconceptions about the systems and lead to a meaningful impact on the overall business operations of your practice.
Misconception 1: Lack of Payment Choice
From Humana’s research, most dental practices believe that they have little to no control over how they’re paid, defaulting to their payor’s preference. However, offices do have a choice in how they’re paid—even if the first payor payment is in the practice’s non-preferred form.
By speaking up and working with the payor team, practices can—and should—choose their favored method by exploring opt-in payment choices to simplify the process.
Misconception 2: Associated Fees
More than half of respondents (53%) indicated concerns about associated fees as a top hesitation to switching to digital payments. However, not all electronic payments have associated fees.
There are no-fee EFT options for providers through payors. However, virtual credit cards (VCCs) do have associated merchant service provider fees, but offer an element of payment convenience for providers.
There are options for all dental providers to choose from—both no-fee and fee-based—to accommodate their preferred methods and ensure efficiency across operations.
Misconception 3: Compromised Security
Another misconception about electronic payments is safety and security. While 61% of respondents indicated some level of satisfaction with paper checks as a payment method, it can be the slowest form of payment and offer security risk through mail fraud.
Conversely, EFTs can offer increased security through their all-digital process, where funds are deposited directly into accounts without a ‘middleman,’ providing practices with protection against embezzlement. Additionally, electronic payments offer digital trails of receipts and funds, so you can keep digital records of all payments.
Additionally, this digitized process allows practices to be paid more quickly and efficiently compared to other payment methods, which—according to Humana’s research—is a top desire across practices.
Payments via EFTs typically process between the next day to one week, versus practices waiting 14-30 days for their paper check payment.
Overall, respondents receiving payments via EFT indicated more satisfaction with this payment method, at 71%, primarily due to speed of payment, efficiency, and ease of use. Shifting to electronic payments may seem complex, but modern systems are designed to be intuitive and user-friendly.
Additionally, partnering with a collaborative insurance provider—like Humana—that offers comprehensive training for its set-up and ongoing support can ensure a seamless transition and further simplify the payment process.
Click here for more information on how to sign up for ERA and EFT payments through Humana.
About the Author
Michelle Hart, RDH, MBA
Associate Vice President, Dental Networks
Humana
MHart7@humana.com
Michelle Hart, RDH, MBA, has been in the dental industry for over 35 years. She started out in the clinical practice setting as a Registered Dental Hygienist before expanding her education and entering the payor side, serving in capacities including Professional Relations, Network Expansion, Recruiter, Quality Management, and Credentialing.
She has been in her current role as Associate Vice President, Dental Networks with Humana for the past six years, where her responsibilities include dental network expansion/retention and credentialing/compliance.
