Healthcare has made significant progress in making payments more convenient. Patients can pay online, by phone, through text and through a growing number of digital channels.
Convenience, however, only solves part of the problem. A payment can be easy to make without being easy to afford.
Healthcare affordability is about more than making payments convenient. It means helping patients understand costs, coverage, and their financial options before a bill arrives. That distinction matters because uncertainty about cost can affect more than the payment experience. It can affect whether someone seeks care at all. In RevSpring’s Consumer Healthcare Survey, 50% of consumers said they have cut back on medical care because of cost.
Affordabiltiy starts before payment. Patients start thinking about what care will cost long before a bill arrives. They want to know what insurance will cover, what they may owe, whether they can afford it, and what options are available if they need help.
The research reinforces that need. Understanding the cost of care and navigating insurance coverage or denials are among consumers’ top frustrations, cited by 39% of respondents for each.
Affordability therefore cannot begin at the point of payment. It begins with setting clearer expectations earlier in the journey.
Payment convenience makes it easier to complete a transaction. Affordability is about whether the patient has a realistic financial path for managing the cost of care.
Healthcare organizations have made real progress in giving patients more ways to pay. But even when the mechanics of payment work well, the underlying balance may still feel unmanageable.
Only 65% of consumers said they were satisfied that the amount they owed matched what they could afford, while 30% were not satisfied.
That exposes an important gap. Affordability is more than just being able to make a payment. It is about finding a realistic financial path forward based on what they can manage.
Consumers say they want clearer explanations of insurance coverage, upfront estimates of out-of-pocket costs, payment plan options, financial assistance, and flexible payment methods. Only 29% said they had all the options they needed to manage healthcare payments.
Patients need options they can understand and that reflect their individual circumstances. Behavioral and financial insights can help healthcare organizations identify who may need additional support, personalize communications, and offer payment pathways based on what each person may realistically be able to manage.
RevSpring helps healthcare organizations turn patient insights into more personalized financial experiences. By understanding behavior, preferences, and financial context, organizations can identify when patients may need additional support, communicate earlier, and offer payment options that better reflect their circumstances.
The technology works best when it makes the experience feel simpler for the patient, with clearer communication, fewer surprises, and a more manageable path forward.
Better patient financial experiences start with clearer information about costs, coverage, and available options before payment is due.
When consumers were asked what providers should do differently, the most common request was simple: explain costs up front. That reinforces an important point. Affordability is part of the patient experience, not just what happens when it is time to collect payment.
Providing earlier clarity around cost, coverage, and available options can help patients better understand what to expect and what financial path may work for them. It gives healthcare organizations an opportunity to address affordability before it becomes a barrier to care.
Making care more affordable requires thinking beyond the payment itself. It means creating a financial experience that is clearer, more personalized, and more manageable from the start.
Explore how RevSpring helps create more personalized financial experiences.