New Survey Highlights What Americans Are Willing to Pay More for in Healthcare

Americans are willing to pay for quality of care over other factors; a negative financial experience can negate outstanding quality of care

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AKASA™, the leading developer of AI for healthcare operations, released findings from a new survey conducted on its behalf by YouGov, which highlights factors that influence how much Americans are willing to pay when choosing their healthcare providers and how far they're willing to travel for quality care at a reasonable price.

Respondents were asked: "When you seek out healthcare, are you willing to pay more or less for any of the following factors?" The survey of more than 2000 Americans ranked factors that impact their healthcare provider choice with regards to costs, with quality of care being the top influencing factor:

• Quality of care (57%)
• Ability to work with care team of choice (47%)
• Ability to work with hospitals of choice (41%)
• Location proximity or convenience (41%)
• Ability to get an appointment quickly (40%)

Additionally, respondents were also asked: "Assuming quality is equivalent across all care options, how far would you travel to get the best price for medical care?" The survey found most Americans are willing to travel some for a reasonable price in healthcare but will not go to extraordinary lengths to access the best price: 82% of Americans prefer to stay within 50 miles when seeking out care at the best price.

"The findings can help healthcare leaders prioritize what to focus on when thinking about their bottom lines through the lens of what patients are willing to pay for and aligning it with improving the patient experience," said Amy Raymond, VP of revenue cycle operations at AKASA. "However, the quality of care is often diminished by the less-than-stellar patient financial experience." 

"Investing in improving the financial experience for patients and transforming revenue cycle operations can go a long way in building goodwill with patients to complement the outstanding quality of care they are willing to pay for," said Raymond. "By leveraging automation, overhauling workflows and deploying staff to concentrate on more challenging assignments that require a human touch, the revenue cycle can match the level of service provided on the clinical side and create loyalty among patients."

The YouGov survey, commissioned by AKASA, fielded responses from 2,026 Americans between March 9–14, 2022. The online survey was conducted at a confidence level of 95% and results for the total sample have a margin of error of +/- 2.18%, while results among those who have sought prices for healthcare services have a margin of error of +/-3.65%. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults 18 and older.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2026 adults, of whom 721 confirmed having ever tried to look for prices for care or services needed. Fieldwork was undertaken between 9th–14th March 2022.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all U.S. adults (aged 18+).

AKASA is the leading developer of AI for healthcare operations. AKASA scales human intelligence with leading-edge AI and ML securely trained on customer data to learn unique systems, continuously adapt to changing environments, and deliver comprehensive automation and analytics for complex workflows. The result is a seamlessly integrated, customized solution that reduces operating costs, frees up staff to do the work they love, and helps health systems allocate resources to where they matter most.

AKASA has a work-from-anywhere attitude and we are hiring. Step into the future of healthcare with AKASA. Learn more at www.AKASA.com/careers.

SOURCE AKASA