Forty-one
percent of patients would leave their providers if they did not have a good
patient financial experience or access to certain digital tools.
By Sara Heath
October 11,
2019 - Access to engaging and helpful digital tools is critical to a
positive patient financial experience, so much so that patients may actually
consider leaving a provider whose technology offerings fell short of
expectations, according to a new report conducted by Survata on behalf
of Cedar.
This data comes as
patients face increasing financial responsibility. Between 2017 and 2018, high
healthcare costs led to an 11 percent increase in out-of-pocket costs,
separate studies have shown, with that number expected to grow.
And with that
increase in patient financial responsibility has come the rise in healthcare
consumerism. As patients bear more financial burden, they have become more
empowered in their healthcare decision-making. If a healthcare organization
falls short of patient expectations, patients are feeling empowered to take
their business elsewhere.
That trend is being
seen in patient experiences with digital technologies, with 41 percent of
patients in the Cedar survey stating that they would leave their providers if
they had a poor digital healthcare experience. One in five patients have
already done so.
Younger patient
populations are even more likely to change providers, the survey added.
Patients ages 18 to 24 are three times more likely to switch providers due to a
poor digital experience compared to patients over age 65. These patients are
also four times more likely to have already switched to a new provider than
their older patient counterparts.
Poor digital
healthcare experiences can also make their way onto online provider reviews, which patients
increasingly value when making healthcare decisions. About one in five patients
have given a provider a negative review because of lackluster digital
offerings.
These online provider
reviews are important, the survey showed, with 55 percent of patients
consulting reviews before accessing healthcare and 44 percent citing online
reviews as the top influencing factor when accessing healthcare.
Digital tools easing
patient financial experience are of serious import, the survey revealed, likely
because of growing out-of-pocket patient bills. Thirty-four percent of
respondents said they’ve had a bill go to collections within the past year, and
60 percent said they were not able to pay the full amount of their healthcare
bills.
This problem is worse
for younger patients, 44 percent of whom had a bill sent to collections in the
past 12 months.
Ninety-four percent
of all patients said they are worried about their ability to pay their medical
bills into the future.
Healthcare
organizations are not making it easier for patients who are concerned about
high healthcare costs. Forty-three percent of all patients said they’ve been
left confused by their medical bills and do not always know how much they owe
after a healthcare encounter.
Price transparency
also leaves much to be desired. Sixty percent
of patients said they have requested a price estimate before receiving care,
but 51 percent could not receive an answer easily or accurately.
What’s more, once
patients go to pay their medical bills, just about one-quarter say the
mechanisms for doing so are outdated and half said limited provider adoption of
digital bill payment tools is frustrating.
Overwhelmingly,
providers are still leaning on paper to conduct medical billing, with 74
percent of patients saying they receive a paper bill in the mail. Fifty-five
percent said provider notify them of a bill via patient portal, 34 percent
through email, and 15 percent from a text message.
Patients want to see
updates in these bill payment systems, the survey showed. Eighty-three percent
of patients want to see tools that allow for flexible payment plans for larger
medical bills. Fifty-six percent want access to out-of-pocket cost estimates while
half want patient-centered and understandable bill explanations.
Patients also
expressed interest in consolidated bills or statements (41 percent), better
customer support (38 percent), and digital payment options (33 percent).
Healthcare
organizations may consider technologies that include those elements, especially
as they work to keep up with other consumer-oriented industries that set standards
for positive experiences, the survey concluded.
Asked to rank the
best industries for consumer experiences, patient respondents placed healthcare
fourth out of five industries just ahead of the insurance industry. Retail,
online banking, and online travel all provide a better consumer experience than
healthcare, patients said.
No comments:
Post a Comment