FinTech and AI on healthcare payments as patient frustrations mount
MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES — The healthcare payment system, long plagued by inefficiency and opacity, is undergoing a transformative shift as fintech and AI-driven platforms streamline financial processes.
Broken state of healthcare payments
A PYMNTS Intelligence report found that 67% of healthcare executives acknowledge that manual payment systems pose an obstacle to their efficiency.
The report also reveals that 42% of healthcare SMBs still use checks for payments, while 34% rely on automated clearing house (ACH) transfers and 30% on cash, highlighting a reliance on manual processes.
The economic burden is passed on to patients, especially the younger generations. It was also revealed in the same report that 70% of Gen Z consumers believe healthcare payments are unnecessarily complex.
The fact that millennials and Gen Z consider digital health services, such as telehealth, remote monitoring, and app-based care, more often is concerning, given this disconnection. Without modernization, healthcare will risk losing the same patients who are to propel digital healthcare in the era.
Embedded finance on healthcare’s crisis
Businesses such as Paytient and CVS Health are investing in the frictionless payment area. CVS Health plans to spend $20 billion over a decade to create a technologically enhanced consumer health experience. On the other hand, Paytient has raised $40 million to add to its cost-smoothing devices for employers and insurers.
The conveniences are not the only gain. Automated billing increases revenue cycles by reducing errors in claims and speeding up payment. Embedded finance offers more patient affordability, including easy payment plans, as well as transparency over hidden bills, which is a factor that can increase care adherence among patients.
Embedded finance is driving greater “cost salience”—a behavioural economics concept that heightens awareness of expenses at the moment of decision-making—by integrating real-time payment and financing options directly into healthcare platforms.
According to PYMNTS Intelligence, when patients understand the cost beforehand, they become more proactive in the treatment process, thereby further deterring overutilization and improving outcomes.
Ripple effects on healthcare systems
Embedded finance could cut delays in processing claims and denials, thereby reducing the financial burden on providers, especially small practices that find themselves operating on thin margins.
Simplified payments can boost patient confidence in the healthcare system, leading to the sought-after early care and a decline in patient avoidance of expensive healthcare services.
The innovations in the fintech sphere suggest modernization, which is why the healthcare payment sector might embrace the digital era and bring much-needed relief to patients and healthcare providers.
