As technology has evolved, so has the way patients pay medical expenses.
Here are 10 things to know about healthcare payment technologies being offered today and developed for the future.
Providers are adopting new payment technology, slowly
1. A survey by patient solutions provider BillingTree showed providers are not in a rush when it comes to adopting modern payment technology.
2. The BillingTree survey found more than 93 percent of respondents said they accept onsite and mail-in forms of payment, nearly 87 percent said they accept phone payments and 67 percent said they provide online payment tools. Only about 7 percent said they have an automated phone payment system.
Patients are paying bills online
3. More than a quarter of one-time medical payments are made via billers' websites, according to a report from ACI Worldwide and Aite Group.
4. The ACI and Aite report, based on a survey of 2,429 Americans, showed 56 percent of all bills are paid online via a biller, bank or third-party website.
5. More than a quarter of one-time medical payments (25.3 percent) are made via billers' websites more than 33 percent by mail, according to the ACI and Aite report.
Americans are looking to the future of medical payments
6. American consumers overall are ready for the future of payments, suggests a survey from e-payments company Viewpost.
7. The Viewpost survey found 80 percent of Americans favor "futuristic" payment technologies and currencies. These include sensor fingerprinting, facial recognition, retinal scanning and voice control, among other tools, along with currencies such as Bitcoin.
8. Additionally, the Viewpost survey found nearly half of Americans believe fingerprint technology will be used to make/receive payments over the next decade.
9. Approximately 31 percent of Americans believe retinal scanning is a viable technology to make/receive payments.
10. Approximately 21 percent of Americans believe Bitcoin will be a viable currency.