A Bad Billing Experience Drives Patients Away

Unfortunately, dissatisfaction is common: 41% of consumers are unsatisfied with their billing experiences.

The overwhelming majority of patients—93%—say that they quality of their billing and payment experience is important to their decision to return to a healthcare provider in the future, adding more evidence to the idea that the patient financial experience can make or break a patient's overall impression of their healthcare encounter.

That's according to Cedar's just-released annual Healthcare Consumer Experience Study, which surveyed more than 1,500 consumers.

A bad billing encounter not only impacts the consumer who experienced it but also can have a major negative ripple effect. They survey showed that 26% of consumers have left a negative review to express their dissatisfaction with a provider around unexpected costs or a frustrating bill process.

Unfortunately, dissatisfaction is common: 41% of consumers are unsatisfied with their billing experiences.

Despite the CMS price transparency rules, most healthcare providers remain noncompliant or only partially compliant and aren't delivering on giving patients what they want and need to feel good about paying for their healthcare costs.

That noncompliance and failure to deliver accurate, easy-to-find price information is evident in the survey results, too.

According to the study:

• While 90% of consumers would find it at least "somewhat useful" if their healthcare provider posted pricing information on their website around expected out-of-pocket costs, only one in three say their healthcare providers offer this "most of the time" or "always."
   
• Of the 58% of consumers who say they've tried to obtain information about out-of-pocket costs ahead of receiving care, nearly 40% said the information was difficult to find or inaccurate. 
   
• 65% of consumers wish they could view real-time benefits information in the same place as their provider bill. 
   
• 55% of consumers find it stressful paying a healthcare bill; 53% find it stressful to try to understand their plan's coverage and benefits; and 53% are stressed about understanding what they owe.
   
• Compared to 2020, 33% of consumers still want greater clarity on what they owe and why, including insurance coverage and denials, and 25% want better ways to get their questions answered faster.

On the flip side, when consumers get what they need from healthcare providers, they respond well.

For instance, 57% of consumers say they're more likely to recommend a provider if they had a great digital experience, and 79% of respondents are willing to pay for the out-of-pocket cost prior to (or at the time of) the visit if given a guaranteed price.