One-Third of Patients Delay Healthcare Due to Cost, New Weave Survey Reveals
04 Avril 2024 - 3:08PM
Business Wire
Data highlights the critical need for
healthcare providers to offer flexible payment solutions to ensure
continued care
Weave (NYSE: WEAV), a leading all-in-one experience platform for
small- and medium-sized healthcare practices, today released new
research revealing that rising costs combined with a lack of
flexible payment options led to delayed healthcare appointments in
2023.
Informed by a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers commissioned by
Weave and conducted by Dynata, the new research examines how
consumers are impacted by economic factors and what their new
expectations are for healthcare expenses.
Consumers are tightening their belts in response to rising
prices and economic volatility, and healthcare is no exception.
Younger generations are feeling this strain more acutely.
Specifically, 37% of Gen Z and 34% of Millennial respondents
delayed going to a primary care physician in 2023. Specialty
healthcare providers saw a higher level of delayed care with 55% of
Gen Z and 44% of Millennials delaying dental visits in 2023.
Consumers have grown accustomed to flexible payment solutions
such as payment plans and buy now pay later (BNPL) in sectors like
retail, yet these conveniences have been slow to translate over to
the healthcare industry. More than half (51%) of respondents said
their healthcare providers do not offer any flexible payment
options including BNPL, payment plans, or third-party lending. The
scarcity of payment alternatives is having a detrimental impact on
patient retention as almost half of consumers (47%) said they’d be
less likely to delay treatment if their healthcare provider offered
BNPL options. To get patients back to regular and necessary
appointments, healthcare providers must offer flexible payment
solutions or risk losing out to providers that do.
“It’s time healthcare providers adopt a patient-centered
approach to payments to ensure patients can receive and afford the
care they desperately need,” said Brett White, CEO of Weave.
“Patients now expect to have multiple options when it comes to
every type of purchase—including healthcare—and the onus is now on
providers to integrate flexible payment methods to keep patients
engaged. Providers that do so will attract and retain patients at a
higher rate than those who don’t.”
Additional significant findings from Weave’s study include:
- More than 3 in 5 consumers (65%) would be more likely to choose
one provider over another if they offered more flexible payment
options. This figure is even higher among Gen Z (80%) and
Millennials (76%).
- Only 12% of patients said their healthcare providers offer
BNPL.
- Installment agreements were the most commonly offered type of
flexible payment option, with more than 1 in 5 consumers (21%)
saying their healthcare provider offers them.
- Almost 1 in 4 (24%) consumers have used BNPL options for
treatment in the past. This skyrockets among younger generations,
as almost half (47%) of Gen Z and 1 in 3 Millennials (34%) have
leveraged BNPL for healthcare expenses.
- Nearly half of Millennials (46%) and Gen Z (44%) are cutting
back on aesthetic treatments due to financial strain.
Consumers ranked food and housing as their top financial
priorities, with 46% claiming food as the top priority and 39%
claiming housing as the top priority. As inflationary and economic
pressures continue to negatively impact consumers' ability to
afford the cost of living, healthcare is at risk of being
deprioritized against more urgent needs. Healthcare providers
looking to grow their practice and retain patients must take steps
now to adapt to changing patient expectations and demands.
To learn more about Weave, visit https://www.getweave.com.
About Weave
Weave is the all-in-one experience platform for small- and
medium-sized healthcare businesses. From the first phone call to
the final invoice and every touchpoint in between, Weave connects
the entire customer journey. Weave’s software solutions transform
how local healthcare providers attract, communicate with and engage
patients to grow their practice. In the past year, Weave has been
named a G2 leader in Patient Relationship Management, Patient
Engagement, Optometry, and Dental Practice Management software. To
learn more, visit getweave.com/newsroom.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403218126/en/
Natalie House Sr. Director of Content and Communications, Weave
pr@getweave.com
Weave Communications (NYSE:WEAV)
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