Seven questions to guide the evaluation of financial payments solutions.
Automating many of the processes in healthcare finance and revenue cycle management (RCM) remains a high priority within the imperative to drive cost savings, enhance efficiency and generally do more with less. Applying technology to various payments transactions occupies a central role in this effort. The emphasis today is on achieving a clear return on these investments. This article proposes seven questions to help guide finance and IT leaders in choosing payments solutions that deliver the desired automation benefits.
1. Does the technology provide strategic as well as tactical benefits?
Providers seek technology/services suppliers who demonstrate understanding of the big picture alongside strong payments technology implementation skills. A vendor’s strategic compass should point to the following:
- Positioning solutions for both immediate and the long-term.
- Emphasis on value creation as the end goal rather than just having the latest technology.
2. Do proposed financial solutions rest on a strong technology foundation?
Too much financial technology remains in the immature “hype cycle” stage. A core platform that reflects contemporary architecture should underpin a vendor’s financial automation solutions. Desirable platform characteristics include enabling flexible deployment of solutions and ensuring coordination between components and across workflows so that software isn’t merely a collection of bolt-ons. Also important is a robust integration engine supporting API-first integrations to multiple systems. File transfer capabilities permit data exchange where APIs aren’t feasible.
3. Does the solution play well with the existing IT environment?
Hidden cost increases and productivity losses are often incurred when payments solutions fail to respect two elements of an organization’s current landscape:
- Systems. Optimal suppliers are system-agnostic, designing solutions that can work productively with a variety of incumbent electronic health record, enterprise resource planning and other systems. That acknowledges the persistent hybrid healthcare IT environment and avoids the costly “rip and replace” syndrome that providers too frequently face.
- Workflows. RCM automation solutions should offer readily configurable workflows to meet varying requirements (by user type, location and other variables). The goal should be to avoid forcing the use of proprietary tools that conflict with beneficial existing workflows. That situation frequently leads to inefficient manual user workarounds.
4. Is the vendor innovative?
Preferred vendors strive to future-proof a provider’s technology decisions. Forward-looking vendors monitor technology trends, embrace innovations, and maintain logical solution roadmaps. To complement active internal development, institutions such as Commerce Bank expand their platform functionality by uniting with outside financial technology firms.
5. Can solutions be deployed at the organization’s preferred pace of change?
Many products enforce a particular rate of client adoption. Accommodating individual variation and often fluid requirements demands vendor flexibility deriving from the following:
- A portfolio of financial/RCM solutions. For example, patient financing platforms must have options to manage convenient electronic refunds as an organization expands into financing based on pre-service estimates.
- Commitment to seamless transitions. This attribute promotes smooth implementations with minimal resource drag on internal IT/operations.
- Coverage of the full transaction spectrum. Healthcare involves both business-to-business and business-to-consumer financial processes, from supplier payments to e-commerce in support of telehealth. Banks bring an understanding of all types of cash and electronic transactions gained through high-volume daily execution.
- Avoidance of a one-size-fits-all philosophy in product development. Tools that flex alongside a client’s goals ensure the solution will continue to support strategic priorities as they evolve.
6. Are high security levels maintained?
Cybersecurity is a major concern from the C-suite to frontline administrators. Data breaches abound, ransomware attacks are rising, and costs of response are high. One study estimated the average cost per breach at close to $10 million, representing the highest level among all industries.1 footnote 1 In 2025, 60% of surveyed executives at health systems and 50% of payers reported that their organizations are prioritizing cybersecurity investments.2 footnote 2
Solutions must conform to multiple standards and guidelines, including HIPAA, payment card industry (PCI), NIST and others. Integrated financial automation solutions should incorporate best practices security features and offer strong audit trail and archiving features. Additional security risks must be considered:
- Remote work and outsourcing. A growing percentage of finance and RCM workers perform their work remotely, at least in part. Most departments also now rely heavily on external third parties for outsourced work. These offsite workflows complicate the security profile.
- Organizational complexity. Health systems, hospitals and practices aren’t static. As healthcare adapts to changing economics and new competition, organizations continue to pursue acquisitions and partnerships. Forty-three percent of health systems expect to increase their mergers and acquisitions activity over the next three years.3 footnote 3 These moves often introduce into the security mix new vulnerabilities from disparate systems and legacy technologies.
Monitoring and responding to these requirements can be a daunting effort for small, specialized technology suppliers. By contrast, commercial banks adhere to some of the strongest security mandates of any industry and are monitored by the Federal Reserve, SEC, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and numerous other federal and state regulatory agencies. Banks place considerable resources behind system testing and monitoring as well as staff training.
7. Is the technology backed by quality, experienced people?
Experience has shown that client support is one of the most critical differentiators in vendor success. Companies that deliver value traditionally support their technology with a team possessing the healthcare experience, skills and commitment to provide these services:
- System implementation and training that doesn’t disrupt or burden IT and revenue cycle staff.
- Consistent execution, fast responses to technical issues and regular communication.
- Market surveillance to anticipate needs, offer trusted advice, and ensure solutions remain appropriately tailored to an overall payments strategy.
Many benefits for technology acquisition and management.
Using these seven questions, health systems, hospitals and practices can analyze and compare solutions to help find a best match with individual requirements. Several technology/services benefits provide further rationale for pursuing this interrogation:
- Vendor efficiency. Providers are looking to form deeper relationships with a tighter range of vendors. That approach helps mitigate security exposure to outside firms, reduce business associate contracts, and lessen the technology and integration risk that arises when a desired solution set is built from many suppliers.
- Overcoming limitations from workforce shortages. Companies who offer tailored solutions with easy implementation and consistent, ongoing support help providers alleviate problems arising from significant staffing shortages. Several RCM and IT positions are experiencing such shortfalls and challenges in filling them. The need to improve the productivity of existing staff becomes paramount.
- Enhanced agility. Healthcare organizations need increasing levels of agility and resilience to be responsive to rapid industry change. The right solutions along with collaborative vendor relationships strengthen a provider’s matrix of flexibility.
- Promotion of interoperability. The government’s push for interoperability standards that foster system integration and robust data exchange is accelerating. Many of the desirable vendor characteristics described in this report help further the cause of interoperability: being system agnostic and committed to APIs, and taking a complete enterprise perspective.
Many criteria are used to evaluate payments technology and services. The process isn’t always easy, and determining the right choice for an organization’s particular situation is important. Taken together, the seven questions offered here can help leaders make efficient and effective assessments and lead to healthy, productive and long-term vendor relationships.
CommerceHealthcare® solutions are provided by Commerce Bank.
Disclosures: