Healthcare Payments: Treasury Banks and Merchant Acquirers’ Remedy for the Doctor Next Door
Report Summary
Healthcare Payments: Treasury Banks and Merchant Acquirers’ Remedy for the Doctor Next Door
Small to midsize health providers would prefer to receive payments solutions from software providers than from banks.
Boston, November 19, 2012 – A new report from Aite Group provides treasury banks and merchant acquirers with sales and marketing strategies for targeting small to midsize U.S. healthcare providers with payments products. Based on an August to October 2012 Aite Group survey of 50 small to midsize U.S. healthcare providers, the report outlines pain points associated with patient receivables, examines healthcare providers’ preferred type of healthcare payments solution sources, and compares usage and availability of value-added and emerging payments products.
Over the past several years, treasury banks and merchant acquirers have organized themselves to penetrate payments in the healthcare vertical, and small to midsize healthcare practices represent a lucrative but untapped market. There are approximately 375,000 such practices in the United States, and their patient receivables, excluding prescriptions, are estimated to reach US$293 billion by 2015. While banks and acquirers both offer compelling solutions for the small to midsize healthcare market, neither has yet proven itself appealing. By working together and bundling offerings with each other and with software vendors, banks and acquirers may finally be able to penetrate the small to midsize provider market.
“Treasury banks have done a good job at amassing payments capabilities but have failed to appreciate and leverage the ability of merchant acquiring services to offer a broader product suite,” says Michael Trilli, senior analyst with Aite Group and co-author of this report. “On the flip side, merchant acquirers have been able to increase card acceptance among healthcare providers but have been unable to strike the right partnerships to win in this market.”
This 31-page Impact Report contains 25 figures. Clients of Aite Group’s Health Insurance service can download the report.