Case Study: Great River Health reduces patient call volume and boosts online payments with Patientco

Great River Health System Grows Self-Service, Online Payments While Reducing Patient Call Volume by 60 Percent with Patientco

Great River Health System, a regional integrated healthcare system serving southeast Iowa and parts of western Illinois, was overwhelmed by patient billing inquiries after its previous payment portal created navigation issues and lacked self-service options for affordable payment plans. As a result, staff were handling about 6,000 patient calls per month, while patients struggled to manage bills online. Great River turned to Patientco for a more modern, mobile-friendly payment experience.

Patientco implemented a direct integration with Great River’s Cerner EHR and provided Digital-First Billing plus the PatientWallet® portal, enabling patients to receive eBills by email or text, view up-to-date balances, and enroll in payment plans on their own. The results were significant: patient payments were received 38% faster, online self-service payments increased by 33%, patient-initiated payment plan enrollment rose by more than 300%, and monthly patient call volume dropped by 60% from 6,000 to about 2,000 calls.

Great River Health

Shannon Leffler

Manager of Patient Financial Services & Patient Billing