Topping the IT headlines this year were such hot topics as artificial intelligence in healthcare, interoperability, and cybersecurity in healthcare. Digging a bit deeper, a wealth of emerging and maturing technologies reflected a rapid shift towards healthcare digital tools designed to optimize patient care, improve operational efficiencies, and take advantage of the industry’s abundance of clinical and financial data.
Within the patient payment space, our TrustCommerce experts identified several key trends from the last year:
Protecting patient data – A critical priority in healthcare payments: Some notable and costly data breaches and ransomware attacks have exposed the vulnerabilities in healthcare systems, bringing into sharp focus the importance of protecting sensitive healthcare information from cybersecurity threats. To combat these threats and reduce the risk of falling victim to data breaches, providers are adopting patient payment technology that protects sensitive patient data with tokenization and encryption while promoting PCI DSS compliance.
Helping patients tackle financial barriers with flexible payment options: Social determinants of health (SDoH) factors often take a financial toll on patients, making it more difficult for them to afford and access the care that they often need. While providers certainly can’t wave a magic wand and make their patients’ SDoH struggles disappear, they can take a few concrete steps to help these patients afford important care. By offering flexible patient payment plans, pre-service cost estimates, and next-generation payment methods, healthcare providers can do their part to help make SDoH a little more manageable for their patients.
A focus on making women’s healthcare more accessible: A recent report noted three specific “structural design flaws” that contribute to women avoiding or delaying care relating to 1) affordability, 2) access, and 3) negative past experiences. However, by adopting consumer-friendly payment options such as payment plans, and offering new healthcare digital tools such as pre-service cost estimates and digital wallets, providers can reduce financial stress and ease some of the challenges women face in managing their healthcare needs.
The growing realization that health insurance doesn’t protect patients from medical debt: In a world of high deductibles and copays, health insurance offers less protection from medical debt than it did a generation ago. While multi-factored societal problems such as growing medical debt require numerous approaches to solve, healthcare providers can play a role in easing this widespread problem by adopting payment solutions that include digital patient engagement tools and installment payment options to make it easier for patients to pay what they owe.
The continued retail-ization of healthcare: Evolving consumer preferences are driving rapid changes to the payments landscape, with greater emphasis on transparency, speed, convenience, and flexibility. Patients today expect the same level of convenience in healthcare as they do in retail. Healthcare providers should be inspired by these retail trends to integrate similar digital payment methods and enhance the patient experience.
The need to cater to generational differences among patients: To keep pace with societal changes, it is critical that providers adopt the digital tools that younger patients seek. Healthcare providers should look to take advantage of next-generation payment methods such as digital wallets, including Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal along with card-on-file options that deliver the convenience and ease-of-use that are attractive to younger patients.
Artificial Intelligence in healthcare: AI in healthcare undoubtedly has a broad range of applications. From addressing staffing challenges, to assisting with treatment and diagnoses, and even helping doctors and staff communicate better with patients, using artificial intelligence in healthcare has the ability to be a game changer.
As always, the healthcare technology landscape evolves rapidly, so we can’t wait to see what the new year has to offer!
