Prepping payments for the digital healthcare era

Healthcare providers are prepping for a sector-wide procedure. In just three years, 80% of healthcare could be delivered in virtual settings and at home.

Some aspects of healthcare may immediately come to mind. Ordering a prescription, for example, should be no different than any online purchase. And why would patients choose to spend hours in a waiting room when they can consult with their doctor via video call?

But digital healthcare has its sights set even further than that. Digital healthcare includes many elements of remote healthcare – including telehealth, telemedicine and the wellness apps we use to track everything from our exercise to our sleep. Some companies are even setting up ICU-like environments in patients’ homes to monitor them remotely.

And patients are responding well to the changes. Around two-thirds said they’d used telehealth to receive care in 2020 – with over half adding that they preferred being able to pay in cleaner, safer ways like contactless or digital wallets.

Whether through reluctance to put themselves or others at risk or as a result of the increasing digitization of almost every aspect of our lives, expectations for the patient experience have made digital healthcare essential. And as healthcare moves beyond the hospital, healthcare payments need to reach beyond the reception area – to wherever your patients are.

In this blog post, you’ll see why digital healthcare payments are not only in the public’s best interest, we’ll also show you some of the ways they offer great benefits for you. So, let’s start with a diagnosis. How do patients prefer to pay for healthcare in 2022?

Patient’s orders for digital healthcare

As in all sectors, consumers of healthcare have more choice than ever, not just in the range of products and services available, but in the ways they pay for them, too. In Europe, digital wallets accounted for more than a quarter (26.7%) of all transactions by value in 2021. And in North America, that number was almost a third (29.2%).

But there are some considerations that set healthcare – especially digital healthcare – apart.

For example, more than half (56%) of patients in the US expressed a significant interest in healthcare payment plans with younger patients the keenest for flexible finance. While buy now, pay later (BNPL) has taken retail by storm, it’s perhaps an even more essential option for modern digital healthcare where insurance may not cover all bills and patients may not immediately be able to make up the difference.

Elsewhere, in the realm of routine check-ups, patient experiences could benefit from healthcare subscriptions. For example, Falck offers customers yearly check-ups, alongside emergency support, as part of a subscription. Iora found that by focusing on primary care for patients over the age of 65, a healthcare subscription can ultimately reduce instances of costly care expenses further down the road.

But above all, patients just want payments to be simple with more than four out of five (82%) wishing they could make all their healthcare payments in one place. You could achieve this with an online portal where patients can see every step of their healthcare journey – from appointments and results to prescriptions and payments. An omnichannel healthcare experience like this is especially important for younger generations. In 2021, the likelihood that Gen Z and Millennial patients would switch providers on the basis of the digital patient experience rose to 35% – up from 31% the year before.

The results are clear – digital healthcare payments do a world of good for the patient experience. And while that should always be your priority, you’ll be pleased to know that there are some positive side effects for healthcare providers, too.

Side effects may include time and money savings

Against traditional transactions, digital payments – which can be made simpler by Worldpay solutions like Virtual Terminal or Pay by Link – can save an average nine minutes of work and US$5.42 of valuable healthcare budget. Add a subscription model or more transparent cost breakdowns to your digital healthcare offering and you could boost the benefits even more.

By offering a subscription model, providers can more accurately gauge demand for particular services or technology – and direct the income from patient subscriptions to the investments and innovations that are most required.

And when patients can see what they can expect to spend on healthcare, they’re more likely to stay loyal to you as a specialist, practice or provider. In fact, 63% of patients will move forward with an appointment if they can see the cost upfront, and an additional 16% will use that estimate to shop around before also taking the appointment.

Prep your payments for the digital healthcare era

Whether allowing patients to manage their own medical expenses or reducing the time and money providers spend on administration, the positive effects of digital healthcare payments are clear. However, between delivering care and catching up on the backlog caused by the pandemic, healthcare providers may not have time to commit to making the switch.

That’s why we’d recommend asking an expert – like us. Worldpay can help you adapt to the rise of digital healthcare by enabling you to accept a range of payment types online including digital wallets, for a seamless omnichannel healthcare payment experience across digital and offline spaces.