Survey: Millennials Want Simple, Digital Options for Healthcare Payments
On Aug. 23, the Boston, Mass.-based PYMENTS.com, a financial services company that uses proprietary research, data analysis, and executive insights to create content, published a survey titled “Generation HealthTech: How Digital Tools Amplify Millennial Patient Loyalty.”
A press release on the survey stated that “Today’s healthcare providers are finding that America’s millennials—the nation’s first digital natives who comprise the majority of its workforce and new parents—want simple, digital options that help them pay for, manage, and track healthcare costs.”
That said, the survey is “based on findings from a census-balanced survey of 2,263 U.S. consumers. The playbook reviews the impact of access to digital communication tools on patients’ loyalty to their healthcare providers and how healthcare services can leverage digital options to boost patient engagement.”
Key highlights from the report include:
- The likelihood that Generation Z, millennial, and “bridge millennial” (bridge millennial is defined thus by paypal.com: “Bridge millennials, aged 32–41, sit on the cusp between millennials and Generation X”) patients would switch to providers that offer digital healthcare management tools rose from 31 percent in November 2020 to 35 percent in April 2021
- Sixty-eight percent of bridge millennial and younger patients surveyed are interested in being able to review their medical histories digitally
- Seventy-six percent of all those surveyed are “very” or “extremely” interested in using at least one digital method to manage their healthcare services or interactions with their providers, this number increases to 86 percent for bridge millennials or younger patients
- Ninety-three percent of millennials desire a patient relationship with a primary care provider (PCP)
- Ninety percent of millennials desire a holistic, ongoing relationship with their PCP that includes frequent communication about their emotional and mental health, personal relationships, and overall wellbeing
- Seventy-six percent of millennials said they wished their providers would reach out to them more often between appointments
- Sixty-eight percent of bridge millennials and younger patients showed interest in reviewing their medical histories digitally
- Sixty percent of bridge millennials and younger patients are interested in filling out medical forms digitally
- Sixty-five percent of bridge millennials and younger patients expressed interest in securely communicating with healthcare providers
- Sixty percent of bridge millennials and younger patients expressed interesting in receiving digital payment notifications
- Seventy-three percent of bridge millennial and younger patients are “very” or “extremely” interested in payment plans
