NextGen Office Guide to Patient Statement Best Practices

When it comes to patient satisfaction, billing matters just as much as care. A confusing or inaccurate statement can damage trust and even drive patients to switch providers. In fact, 56% of patients say poor billing experiences would make them consider changing providers—even if they were happy with the care itself (RevSpring, 2023).

That’s why patient statement best practices are an essential part of revenue cycle management. Clear, timely, and accurate billing not only improves cash flow but also enhances the patient experience. And with a cloud-based EHR like NextGen Office, providers can streamline billing workflows, reduce errors, and strengthen trust with patients.

In this post, we’ll cover the Patient Statement best practices every healthcare organization should adopt to strengthen their revenue cycle and build patient trust.

Why Accurate Patient Statements Matter

Improving patient billing with revenue cycle best practices has benefits that extend far beyond collections:

• Improves cash flow by ensuring timely payments.

• Builds trust and satisfaction with clear, easy-to-understand statements.

• Reduces billing errors and disputes that waste staff time.

• Minimizes bad debt and collections activity.

• Supports compliance and accurate financial reporting.

By leveraging a cloud-based EHR solution, practices can connect clinical, billing, and patient engagement workflows—making accuracy and efficiency easier to achieve.

Step 1: Post and Apply All Pending Payments

Before sending out statements, ensure every pending payment—whether from insurance or patients—is posted and applied.

Why it matters:

• Balances reflect up-to-date information.

• Accounts receivable stays accurate.

• Patients avoid confusion from outdated or duplicate charges.

Check out our Blog Post on Revenue Cycle Best Practices

Step 2: Clear the Secondary Billing Worklist

Secondary claims left unresolved can disrupt accuracy and delay collections.

Why it matters:

• Keeps balances correct in patient AR.

• Improves financial accuracy.

• Reduces patient disputes caused by incorrect balances.

Step 3: Generate Consistent and Accessible Statements

Statements should be simple, professional, and easy to access. Standardization and automation are key.

Best practices include:

• Establishing clear, consistent templates.

• Automating generation to avoid manual bottlenecks.

• Making statements available in the patient portal for convenience.

With NextGen Office’s cloud-based EHR, practices can automate workflows and give patients secure access to statements anytime, anywhere.

Step 4: Go Digital with Electronic Statements

Manual billing takes longer and creates unnecessary costs. Electronic patient statements improve efficiency, accuracy, and patient satisfaction.

Pro tip: Offer patients a choice of delivery, but encourage e-statements to reduce printing and mailing expenses.

The Takeaway

Billing isn’t just about revenue—it’s about relationships. By prioritizing patient statement best practices and integrating them into your cloud-based EHR, healthcare providers can:

• Improve cash flow

• Reduce errors

• Build patient trust

When patients understand their bills and trust the process, they’re more likely to pay on time—and more likely to stay loyal to your practice. By combining revenue cycle best practices with the power of NextGen Office Cloud-Based EHR, you’ll strengthen both financial performance and patient satisfaction.