Managing healthcare payments is a complex and often inefficient process, especially for biotechs and multi-site healthcare organizations like dental service organizations (DSOs), veterinary consolidators, and ambulatory service centers.
As the volume of vendor payments grows, manual processes become unsustainable to manage, prone to error, and vulnerable to fraud. But healthcare payment solutions can fill these gaps by streamlining the accounts payable (AP) process. The result is better financial control and visibility, which is essential for business growth and long-term stability.
Whether you’re managing backend operations for a multi-location dental chain or overseeing procurement at a medtech company, the right healthcare payment solution can significantly impact your financial performance.
Key takeaways
- End-to-end payment solutions offer more benefits than point solutions, including improved cash flow visibility and fewer manual errors.
- Key features to look for include secure payment processing, ERP integration, workflow automation, and compliance tools.
- MineralTree offers a comprehensive AP automation platform tailored to the needs of growing healthcare businesses.
What is a healthcare payment solution?
A healthcare payment solution is a software platform designed to manage and automate the process of paying vendors and suppliers within the healthcare ecosystem. Unlike patient-facing billing platforms, these tools handle business-to-business payments, helping your organization ensure transactions are timely, secure, and trackable.
What is the value of a healthcare payment solution?
According to the 9th Annual State of AP report, accounts payable remains the #1 priority for improving back office operations in healthcare. Yet many organizations still rely on manual processes, prompting 51% of respondents to turn to automation to reduce inefficiencies and costs.
Staying on top of payments is essential to maintaining your organization’s financial health and supporting long-term growth. If you’re managing multiple locations and a wide network of vendors, you need a solution that gives you control, visibility, and compliance. A robust healthcare payment solution provides:
- Time savings through automated workflows
- Reduced fraud risk with secure, trackable payments
- Improved vendor relationships due to on-time payments
- Better cash flow management with real-time visibility into payment status and approvals
These benefits are key to transforming your healthcare practice’s back office and positioning your organization for long-term success.
Types of payment solutions for healthcare
Choosing the right type of payment solution can significantly impact the efficiency and financial performance of your organization. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of each platform to find the best fit for your operational and compliance needs.
Point solution
Point solutions address a single part of the payment workflow, such as payment processing or invoice scanning. While they may offer immediate relief for a specific challenge, they often require additional tools or manual intervention to complete the full AP cycle.
This leads to fragmented data, inefficiencies, and limited scalability—all common healthcare payment processing challenges that point solutions fail to fully address.
End-to-end solution
An end-to-end payment solution manages the entire accounts payable process for healthcare facilities.
These platforms are key to achieving AP automation in healthcare because they automate every step in the payment process, from invoice capture and approval to payment execution and reconciliation. As a result, your team can reduce human error and centralize vendor communications, which makes it easier to align payment workflows with broader financial strategies.
What are the advantages of an end-to-end solution over a point solution?
End-to-end solutions offer comprehensive benefits over point tools, including:
- Improved cash flow visibility and control: Real-time dashboards show pending approvals, outstanding payments, and liquidity, helping maximize your healthcare organization’s cash flow.
- Reduced manual errors: Automation limits data entry mistakes and ensures accurate reconciliation.
- Scalability: End-to-end solutions easily support growth into new locations or vendor categories without adding headcount.
- Compliance and audit readiness: Centralized records make it easier to meet regulatory requirements and conduct internal audits.
What are the key features to look for when considering a payment solution for your healthcare organization?
When choosing a payment solution for your healthcare organization, you need a platform that fits your operations today while supporting your long-term growth.
Consider the following features when evaluating whether a payment solution is the right fit to meet your needs:
- Secure payment processing
- Approval workflow automation
- ERP integration
- Reporting and analytics
- Compliance support
Secure payment processing
Secure payment processing should be a top priority. The platform should support multiple payment types—ACH, checks, and virtual cards–delivered through encrypted channels with built-in fraud prevention. Look for vendor verification tools and secure user access capabilities to protect sensitive financial data.
Additionally, ensure the solution is PCI DSS compliant. This compliance standard is critical for protecting cardholder data and mitigating the risk of data breaches. A PCI DSS–compliant platform ensures that best practices are followed in the handling, transmission, and storage of payment information.
Approval workflow automation
Choose a solution with robust approval workflow automation to eliminate delays and manual follow-ups. Features like custom approval chains, automated notifications, and mobile-friendly access allow your team to process approvals faster without sacrificing control.
ERP integration
Seamless ERP integration is essential for maintaining data accuracy across your systems. A solution that connects directly with your accounting or ERP software will reduce duplicate data entry, improve reconciliation, and give you real-time visibility into financial health across all your entities, supporting more effective healthcare accounting.
Reporting and analytics
Look for platforms that offer real-time dashboards and advanced analytics to track payment cycles, cash flow, and vendor performance. These insights will help you identify problems, improve cash management, and support smarter financial decisions as your organization grows.
Compliance support
Healthcare organizations must comply with HIPAA, SOX, and other financial regulations. A strong payment solution should provide detailed audit trails, secure document storage, and activity logs to support internal and external audits, helping you reduce risk and ensure regulatory readiness.
How MineralTree’s end-to-end AP automation solution can help modernize healthcare payment operations
MineralTree’s AP automation platform is built for healthcare organizations, offering:
- Invoice capture and digitization using AI-powered OCR
- Automated approval workflows that align with your org structure
Multiple secure payment options, including virtual cards to simplify healthcare payments and cash rebates - Direct-debit payments from any bank account with no settlement account or pre-funding required. Ensure faster payments while maintaining control over your cash.
- Real-time reporting and analytics to track spend and optimize cash flow
- Easy ERP integration with systems like NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Acumatica, and Microsoft Dynamics
By managing the entire AP lifecycle in one platform, MineralTree helps healthcare organizations reduce costs, improve vendor relationships, and free up finance teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
Request a demo to learn how an AP automation solution can simplify your organization.
FAQs on healthcare payment solutions
Check out the frequently asked questions below to learn more about healthcare payment solutions and their benefits.
1. Are healthcare payment solutions HIPAA compliant?
Many healthcare payment solutions offer HIPAA-compliant features such as encrypted data storage and access controls. However, because these tools primarily handle vendor payments rather than patient information, HIPAA compliance is often less of a core requirement than with clinical systems.
2. How can payment solutions help mitigate fraud in healthcare?
Payment solutions reduce fraud by verifying vendors, securing payment channels, and enforcing approval workflows. Features like multi-factor authentication and audit trails make it easier to detect and prevent suspicious activity.
3. What is the ROI of a healthcare payment solution?
Most healthcare organizations see ROI within months. Automation enhances team efficiency, reduces late fees, and minimizes fraud risk. Using digital payment solutions like virtual cards can unlock rebates, while faster, more reliable payments strengthen vendor relationships and improve terms, all of which contributes to improved cash flow and financial health.
