Patients desire transparency and convenience when addressing medical bills, but some providers have challenges meeting these expectations, according to a Waystar survey released May 3.
The survey, conducted in January 2018, involved 1,007 patients that visited an inpatient or outpatient provider setting in the previous 12 months. It also involved 895 financial executives from hospitals, health systems and other outpatient facilities.
Here are six survey findings, as presented by Waystar.
Patient costs and estimation
1. A majority of patients (85 percent) said they felt they were just as responsible with respect to paying for healthcare as paying for other professional services, according to Waystar. However, less than 20 percent of these patients with commercial health plans found it "easy to understand and convenient to pay for" their medical care.
2. Survey results suggest cost estimates help patients comprehend their medical expenses, with 86 percent of patients who received cost estimates indicating they understood their payment responsibility.
3. A majority of the healthcare professional respondents (87 percent) said they are able to offer a cost estimate to patients when requested, according to Waystar. But, at the same time, less than one-third of patients know to make the request.
Patient payment processes
4. Nearly all healthcare professional respondents said they use paper billing statements, according to Waystar. However, more than 50 percent of patients said they would prefer to receive and pay their medical expenses electronically.
5. The survey also found differences in how patients and provider organizations perceive payment timeliness. Forty-eight percent of providers said their patients take more than three months to pay their full medical bill. Only 24 percent of patients believed it took them that long. Waystar noted: "This perception gap may lie in the timing of payer reimbursement. Patients may believe that they do not owe anything until their payers pay their share."
6. More than 75 percent of patients said they would be willing to grant permission to their healthcare organization to charge a credit card number provided when they receive care for an amount up to $200, according to Waystar.
Read more about the survey here.
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