Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Credit Card on File Speeds Collections, Decreases Bad Debt

The credit-card-on-file practice requires a patient’s credit card at the time of service, which is used to cover balances after an insurance claim adjudicates. In addition to increasing total collections, charging the card on file also enables an urgent care to capture payments more quickly than time-consuming and costly collection efforts, such as mailing statements. In an Experity analysis of 392,699 comparable Blue Cross Blue Shield urgent care visits in 2024, 80% of patient responsibility …

Patient Credit Card on File Increases Payments by 20%

Just as hotels require a credit card to cover any “incidentals,” urgent care is increasingly pre-authorizing patient credit cards at the time of service to cover any patient balances after their insurance claims adjudicate. Patient balances are often attributed to deductibles, co-insurance, or eligibility issues that can be difficult to identify at registration. Charging a patient’s credit card when an explanation of benefits is received should, in theory, reduce accounts receivable days, write-offs, and collections …

UCs in NY Can No Longer Require Credit Cards Kept on File

The North East Regional Urgent Care Association (NERUCA) Governmental Affairs Committee recently notified members via email about a freshly minted New York budget rule that includes provisions that effectively prohibit urgent care (UC) operators from requiring patients to leave credit card information on file for payment. Most UCs require a card on file so they can collect the appropriate out-of-pocket responsibility after claims adjudication. However, the new law, General Business Law 519-a, essentially eliminates any …

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