In most specialties, patients are increasingly paying their healthcare bills online, according to a study conducted by EHR and practice management software developer Athenahealth.
Researchers analyzed more than 158 million claims involving 33 million patients who visited Athenahealth clients from July 2017 to December 2019.
The study focused on primary care, pediatrics and adolescent medicine, gastroenterology, OB-GYN, orthopedics, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, cardiology, and urgent care.
Three takeaways:
1. Electronic payments increased across generations and insurance types.
2. All age groups made fewer desktop payments as more patients paid via mobile devices.
3. Regardless of payment method, collecting from patients was harder when they had higher balances.