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.
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.
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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.
Date: October 14, 2019
Source: Patient Engagement Hit