Overview

A national home healthcare leader needed a smarter, more efficient way to accelerate collections and ease pressure on internal teams. With a growing customer base and rising operational costs, their paper-based billing reminders were no longer effective at scale. 

To address the uptick in past-due balances and payment delays, the organization partnered with DataOceans to deploy a targeted communication strategy using digital channels - driving faster payments and stronger engagement. 

The goals were clear: 

• Increase payment velocity without increasing print or postage costs 

• Reach more patients using preferred digital touchpoints 

• Reduce dependency on manual outreach from customer service and billing teams 

• Drive traffic to their existing self-service payment portal 

Challenge: Missed Opportunities in the Communication Mix

Despite sending an initial email and text message, the organization struggled to prompt timely customer payments. The original cadence of reminders wasn’t enough - patients often delayed payments, and call center staff spent time fielding avoidable payment-related inquiries.  

The challenge was finding the right number of reminders to prompt patients to pay, without overwhelming or annoying them. Essentially, the organization needed a flexible, low-cost way to improve patient outreach and engagement - without changing the existing systems and workflows their service staff depended on, or making costly changes to core systems. 

Solution: DataOceans’ Digital Engagement Strategy

DataOceans launched a multi-touch, automated notification campaign using email and SMS to remind patients of outstanding or overdue balances. The cadence was strategically designed to prompt timely action while avoiding message fatigue. 

Implementation Highlights: 

• DataOceans configured custom messaging workflows aligned with the organization’s billing cycles. 

• Notifications were sent through two digital channels (email and SMS), maximizing reach and visibility. 

• Campaigns were fully automated, requiring minimal effort from internal teams. 

• Over 300,000 additional targeted notifications were delivered each month to drive payment action. 

• Links in the messages directed patients to the organization’s self-service payment portal. 

Results: A Measurable Lift in Payments

With additional digital reminders in place, the organization saw a dramatic increase in payment activity: 

• Payment volume (number of payments): Increased 35% month-over-month and 60% year-over-year 
• Total payments collected (by dollar value): Increased 60% month-over-month and 75% year-over-year 

Impact at a Glance:

• 75% YoY increase in total payments collected (March ‘25 vs March ‘24) 

• Faster time to payment and improved cash flow  

• Fewer inbound inquiries and manual collection efforts 

• Increased payment portal adoption, driving customer self-service and faster payments 

• Fully automated solution with minimal staff involvement 

The Home Healthcare Organization now has a scalable digital strategy that complements its patient experience goals. By expanding its use of DataOceans’ Customer Communications Management platform, the company can continue optimizing outreach across additional communication types -  without increasing print costs or staff effort. 

The Right Nudge at the Right Time 

This case study proves that with the right digital communication strategy in place, organizations can accelerate payments, reduce operational burden, and drive real results, without reinventing their infrastructure. 

This is a powerful example of how an effective Customer Communications Management platform can help organizations maximize impact by improving digital engagement and delivering measurable outcomes.