As our population ages,medical professionals are increasing their training in the special needs of the elderly. Individuals with dementia or Alzheimers may be receiving care from spouses, sons, or daughters who are themselves elderly.

Unfortunately, billing practices don't always keep pace with these needs.

"Older people call us up in helpless confusion," says one office worker. "They don't know what any column means, whether it's a bill or not, or whether or not they need to send us money"

Helpers may be equally confused by bills and statements. 

"You can hear how distressed they are," the worker continued.

Often, paper bills are complex and confusing because of insurance requirements. 

Managing piles of paper bills can be confusing on its own. Elderly patients who rely on family members living in other towns may try to sort out the difficulties over the phone, and be defeated by the number of papers from different places, with different dates. 

One doctor found, in spite of her own knowledge base, that it was impossible for her to determine whether her elderly parents were having duplicate tests which they didn't need. She described the experience as "feeling like you're standing in a busy crossroads with no idea which direction to go in."

Electronic health records should, once they're perfected, help with these issues. Until then, electronic billing can already give a starting point. SmartPay bills, for example, have a clear interface that shows the patient's current balance immediately, and other details can be explored or excluded as needed, rather than being bunched together on a single page. Patients can choose to give a son or daughter or other helper access to the bills, rather than trying to find needed information on a paper bill and relaying it over the phone. And there is no need to file or keep track of paper bills -- nor to worry that some bills may have been mislaid.

Older patients who have difficulty actually paying the bill online can, with SmartPay, be assisted by the office to use phone payments instead.