Optometrist Patient Payments Software: How to Pick the Best One

If you’re interested in finding the best ophthalmologist and optometrist patient payments software for your medical practice, you’ve come to the right place. 

As an eye care business owner or manager, you care about patient safety, vision care, and patient engagement. Creating excellent patient experiences involves comprehensive efforts like clear patient data and medical record communication, vision coverage from different insurance company options,  convenient patient portal access for making payments or scheduling a vision appointment, and much more. Optometry software allows your practice to unify all patient experiences, like billing and patient scheduling, into an intuitive dashboard for your eye care team and patients. 

At Weave, we offer end-to-end optometry practice management software that includes everything from vision patient billing and appointment reminders to financing and text-to-pay features. Below, we discuss the top items you should look for in practice management software for improving your patient care and business operations. 

What Is Patient Payments Software?

Medical billing is far more complex than standard eCommerce payment collections. The healthcare team at your optometry office must:

• Collect patient information
• Handle insurance credentialing to verify coverage
• Track all provided services according to code
• Submit each insurance claim
• Dispute denials
• Collect payments from patients
• Collect reimbursements from insurance organizations 

A simple eye exam or eyeglasses appointment requires juggling multiple insurers, payment complications, and more. 

Practice management software for optometry practices automates many aspects of this time-consuming process. With an automated billing system, you can track payments, increase reimbursement rates, optimize revenue streams, and create a better patient experience. 

Modern optometry billing software often includes a full suite of convenience features that transform the patient experience. For example, your patients may be able to use the optometry software to:

• Schedule appointments
• Check insurance coverage
• Create reminders
• Message providers about an eye problem
• Request contact lens prescription refills
• Complete check-in forms
• Leave eye doctor reviews
• And more

For the best experience, we recommend optometry software that syncs electronic health record (EHR) data between patients and providers. Such platforms align your patients and staff with comprehensive information for optimal treatment outcomes.

For example, patients may view results from routine eye exams, providers can use patient histories to create vision therapy plans, and primary care doctors may view necessary prescriptions for contact lenses with EHR records. 

Benefits of Using Payment Software in Your Optometry Practice

Optometry software offers benefits for both your practice and your patients. With the right platform, you can enjoy the following:

• Increased revenue: Your patients that pay for services out-of-pocket or with high deductibles may postpone payment fulfillment, especially if the process is inconvenient, like paying via mail or phone call. Offering online payments at your practice with flexible options can improve collection rates, ultimately boosting revenue. 
• Reduced operational costs: Sending billing statements via physical mail, collecting checks, and depositing requires physical resources and critical office time. While it may not seem like much, these operational costs can add up when multiplied over time. Optometry software automates these time-consuming processes to reduce operational costs. 
• Streamlined recurring billing plans: After collecting patient information once, your billing process can become automatic. Rather than creating and printing individual statements, the platform can generate electronic bills for each service. 
• Improved patient satisfaction and retention: Many modern consumers favor digital experiences; 79% of people prefer to purchase things like groceries online. Convenient online features can improve patient satisfaction rates, which may prompt patients to return. 

Must-Have Features for Patient Payments Software

Billing software for optometry practices is only effective if it has the right features. Features like full-suite payment processing, contactless payments, text-to-pay, and financing improve the system’s functionality and effectiveness. 

Full-Suite Payment Processing

Full-suite payment processing refers to end-to-end management of the collection process. You need a system that can automate each critical step, including the following:

• Patient statements
• Collection letters
• Bill generations and recording
• Automated billing
• Billing rules
• Claim denial support
• Central office billing
• Payment reminders
• Credit card processing
• Outstanding payments
• Batch payments

Aside from the above, full-suite payment processing also includes the types of payments you can accept. The more digital methods you embrace, the more options your patients will have for easily fulfilling their debts. For example, you can accept major institutions like Visa and MasterCard and digital wallets like Apple Pay, Cash App, PayPal, Google Pay, Venmo, and Zelle. 

With full-suite payment processing software, you will enjoy critical revenue insights at your fingertips. Many providers offer intuitive dashboards displaying key figures to help you better understand how to build more revenue at your healthcare practice. 

Contactless Payments and Text-to-Pay

Requiring patients to come into the office to fulfill payments is inconvenient and creates unnecessary contact. With increased concerns over viral infections like COVID-19, reducing physical contact as much as possible can help keep your patients and staff healthy. 

Contactless payments may include digital forms, automated phone payment systems, or text-to-pay options. With digital options, patients may log in and enter their payment information at any time or place for optimal convenience. 

With text-to-pay, you can send patients links to their invoices via text. Rather than making them follow complicated email log-in steps, they can simply click the link, enter their info, and submit the payment. Text payments offer convenient reminders so eye care patients don’t forget to submit their owed dues. 

Financing and Buy Now

Financing and buy-now processes refer to the exact payment plans you offer to your patients. Financing breaks payments into regular installments over set periods, letting patients pay off their debt over time. Buy now refers to complete one-time payments. 

Financing is an excellent way to improve patient satisfaction, cash flow, and retention rates. Some of your services may cost above what the average person can pay out-of-pocket without insurance. By offering an affordable financing plan, you expand your patient pool to uninsured or lower-income individuals who may not have been able to afford the eye care they need. 

With financing, you can set specific term periods, interest rates, and other requirements to automate the process. For example, you may decide to offer three, six, and 12-month plans that patients can break their payments into. Many optometry billing software options include financing partnerships with payment deferment safety nets to keep your practice’s financial best interests in check. 

Whether offering visual therapy appointments, treating long-term diabetes patients, or anything else, you don’t want patients to struggle to pay for their appointments. While reducing prices may not be an option for your practice, offering affordable payment plans can help make care more accessible. 

Transform Your Payment System With Weave

Now that you know what to look for in top-tier optometry payment collection software, it’s time to shop around. You’ll find that many options exist, though only a few include all the features mentioned above, plus comprehensive end-to-end patient experience tools. 

At Weave, we designed our platform to cover all your practice’s needs, from internal billing automation with financing options, to convenient patient and provider texting. We aim to help offices reach scalable success by transforming how their systems operate from within. With full integration opportunities, you can unify all your workflows into one seamless system with Weave. 

If you’d like to see how Weave works in action, you can schedule a live demo with our expert sales team. We’ll show you how the platform can transform your practice on the patient and business end. For more information, call Weave today at 833-572-2139 or fill out our online form to schedule a demo.