Consumers Say Instant Payments Key to Healthcare Patient Satisfaction

The ease of paying everything from phone bills and credit card balances to car loans and mortgages through a variety of payment solutions is something consumers have come to expect. However, one space that has lagged behind in the offering of multiple payment solutions is the healthcare sector.

A new report from PYMNTS Intelligence, in conjunction with Ingo Payments titled “The Instant Remedy for Healthcare Payments’ Pain Points” outlines the need for healthcare providers to modernize their billing and payment systems.

Digital Payments to Optimize Patient Experience

Where the healthcare industry has relied heavily on the most advanced technology to provide exceptional patient care and outcomes, that approach hasn’t extended to provider billing departments. This, in turn, has caused frustration and a different kind of pain for patients.

Only 46% of healthcare businesses use instant payments, compared to 52% of firms in other sectors. Additionally, only 31% of healthcare firms use push-to-debit methods versus 41% of firms outside the healthcare space.

In fact, many providers still rely on paper billing and disbursements. These are not only inconvenient for patients but inefficient for the providers, as the passing of physical documents from department to department can be time-consuming and subject to error. Mistakes anywhere along the billing journey can result in patient refunds.

An efficient billing and payment system, on the other hand, is more likely to increase patient satisfaction and customer loyalty, according to a separate study conducted by PYMNTS Intelligence in 2024.

“There’s the cost of the check that’s printed out, and there’s the cost of the envelope, the cost of the stamp,” says Dee Harding, chief product officer at Big Data Healthcare, “and then you’ve got to rely on the fact that the patient’s going to be there, address-wise. If anything goes wrong during that whole process, you’ve set yourself up for patient complaints.”

Healthcare Moves to Digital Payments

Patients are keen for a better way, as 77% reported making and receiving digital payments would positively affect their relationship with their healthcare provider. Since seamless billing and payment are ubiquitous with the other types of businesses patients deal with on a day-to-day basis, it’s only natural to expect it from the healthcare industry.

That expectation is trending upwards as a PYMNTS Intelligence study showed that while only 39% of patients said they would choose instant healthcare disbursements in 2023, 77% reported they would do so when asked in 2024.

Many small to mid-size providers have been slow to adopt digital payment solutions, perhaps because they feel they lack the resources of the bigger players in the field. However, 66% of these providers sent real-time payments in the last 12 months, according to recent PYMNTS Intelligence research, with credit cards used by 55% of practices, being the second-most popular payment method. Checks still accounted for 42%, with bank transfers clocking in at 34%. Going forward, 64% of small to mid-size providers say they are interested in real-time payments.