High Cost of Healthcare Is Leading Cause of Canceled Patient Appointments

Among patients who canceled healthcare appointments in the last year for any reason other than their condition improving, 46% did so because the cost was too high, according to “The Healthcare Conundrum,” a PYMNTS and Experian Health collaboration based on a survey of 2,483 consumers.

Get the report: The Healthcare Conundrum

The survey found that the higher income groups were the most likely to cancel a healthcare appointment due to cost, with 59% of those earning more than $100,000 a year and 48% of those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 saying they had done so.

Just 32% of the respondents earning less than $50,000 a year said they had canceled a care appointment in the last 12 months because they received a cost estimate that was too high.

Financial lifestyle also impacted these decisions. Sixty percent of the respondents who live paycheck to paycheck with issues paying bills had canceled an appointment because of high cost estimates, compared with 47% of those who live paycheck to paycheck without issues paying bills and 25% of those who do not live paycheck to paycheck.

Additionally, younger generations were the most likely to cancel an appointment because the cost estimate was too high. The survey found that 56% of the members of Generation Z, 74% of millennials and 67% of bridge millennials said they had done so within the last 12 months.

The share of members of the two oldest generations included in the report who said they had canceled an appointment was lower, with 37% of Generation X and just 13% of baby boomers and seniors saying they had done so in the last year.

Rising healthcare costs broadly impact patients’ access to care, meaning providers should serve patients with access to timely and accurate cost estimates.

Some healthcare providers will need to partner with solution providers to enhance their technology to provide accurate cost estimates before an appointment or procedure.

Doing so is critical, as eliminating surprises can redefine how these providers engage with existing and new patients.