56% of Patients Want Payment Plans From Their Doctor, Rectangle Health Survey Shows

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Aug 03, 2021, 09:43 ET

VALHALLA, N.Y., Aug. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As the country re-opens and economic sentiment shifts, more than half of patients (56%) remain "very" or "extremely" interested in payment plans for medical bills, according to data from a survey released by Rectangle Health in conjunction with PYMNTS.com.

The survey, conducted in April as a follow-up to a study from November 2020, revealed an even higher level of interest (73%) among bridge millennials (ages 33-43) and younger patients. Younger patients are increasingly enticed by using a payment plan for typical visits, up eight percentage points from the initial survey.

"These findings quantify what we have heard anecdotally from our providers' patients," said Dominick Colabella, CEO at Rectangle Health. "In so many other aspects of their lives, payment plans have helped them afford the things they need, and they expect the same in the healthcare world, as well. It's just one area where patient expectations and preferences are prodding physicians, dentists, even veterinarians to update their payment technology."

The average minimum bill that would lead to interest in payment plans rose 14% from $1,191 in 2020 to $1,362 in 2021.

As for the payments themselves, patients are choosing from a diverse array of options. Bridge millennials and younger patients showed a slight increase in paying with PayPal and Apple Pay.

Other key findings include:

More than three quarters of patients (76%) are very interested in using at least one digital method to manage their healthcare services or interactions with their provider, and 58% of millennials would be "very" or "extremely" likely to switch providers if offered digital methods.
An overwhelming majority of patients (78%) are interested in going back to in-person healthcare visits after COVID-19 forced many to stay home for more than a year. As the pandemic has waned, patients showed they are less concerned about contracting COVID-19 in the office, a decrease of eight percentage points from the initial survey.
At least half of patients are interested in digital tools to receive and respond to appointment notifications (59%), receive test results and medical history (58%), communicate with providers via a safe and secure method (55%) and fill out forms digitally (50%).

Read the full survey results.

About Rectangle Health

Rectangle Health, a leading healthcare technology company, empowers medical, dental and specialty practices with seamless and secure technology to drive revenue by increasing patient payments and streamlining practice management and payment processing. Since 1992, the company's innovative solutions have reduced administrative burden and rebalanced the ledger for its thousands of healthcare providers in the U.S., reliably processing billions of dollars in payments annually. To learn more, visit: www.rectanglehealth.com

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SOURCE Rectangle Health