Nearly 30% of Consumers Paid a Healthcare Bill Via Online Portal in the Past Year

Paying at the doctor’s office or hospital is still the predominant way consumers settle medical bills, but that’s changing as awareness of online portals and unified digital platforms grows.

As explored in the study “The Digital Platform Promise: How Patients Want to Streamline Healthcare Payments,” a PYMNTS and Lynx collaboration based on a survey of over 2,500 U.S. consumers, portals and platforms are snapping at the heels of card, check and cash payments to providers.

By way of marquee findings, the research found that nearly one-third (28.9%) of the entire sample used an online portal to pay a medical bill in the past year.

In the same timeframe, 36% of consumers paid bills in-person at a provider’s office or healthcare facility. That gap of roughly 7 percentage points is closing faster as more consumers become aware of new online payment options.

Put another way, consumers are embracing the convenience of digital healthcare payments.

Among surprising statistics in the new study are the demographic breakdowns showing how the use of online payments is not only prevalent among digital natives — as would be expected — but with cohorts like baby boomers and seniors also becoming comfortable paying online.

Looking specifically at preferred ways of making healthcare payments, nearly one-quarter (22.2%) of baby boomers and seniors reported that portals are their preferred way to pay.

While millennials (28.1%) and Gen Z (26.9%) are in the lead for using healthcare payment portals, the fact that the percentages are as close as they are between digital natives and older cohorts reveals that portals have made major inroads with consumers over the past three years as healthcare payments continue to undergo a major digital shift.

Part of the reason that portals are gaining ground across the demographic spectrum has to do with minimizing pain points in the payments process.

As the study states, “Among consumers who held an online account with a digital healthcare or wellness-related portal, 48% reported that online channels improve at least one part of the overall payments and billing management experience. Notably, 29% said that digital portals make their experience more convenient, and 25% said that digital platforms make it easier to access account information.”

When the portal experience is upgraded to a robust unified digital platform, consumer interest is piqued even more by this emerging category of platforms that simplify and streamline the process, while making all related billing data accessible and easy to understand.

Per the study, “When we analyzed consumer interest in a single, comprehensive digital platform, we discovered that 70% of consumers are open to using a unified digital platform to manage their healthcare needs and activities, with 43% indicating high levels of interest.”

Get the study: The Digital Platform Promise: How Patients Want to Streamline Healthcare Payments