Dive Brief:

• Three-quarters of consumer respondents in a recent JPMorgan Chase healthcare payments survey said they want to pay their medical bills online. That was in sync with two-thirds of healthcare providers surveyed saying they are focusing on online, automated and self-service payments for patients, according to the bank’s 14th Trends in Healthcare Payments report published last week.
• Most providers said they receive their payer payments via electronic fund transfers (85%), followed by paper checks (70%), virtual cards (51%) and electronic fund transfers with fees (35%), said the report from the biggest U.S. bank. In addition, most of the providers (83%) said they prefer to receive payments via electronic fund transfers.
• Still, sixty-four percent of consumers said they receive refunds from their providers via paper check, according to the report.

Dive Insight:

Despite some share preferences between consumers and providers, JPMorgan’s report pointed to some tension in the market over the forms of payment.

Forty-four percent of patient respondents said they were disappointed with slow refund processes. At the same time, 24% of respondents said they want a choice of how their refunds from their healthcare providers are delivered, and 23% said they would prefer to be given advance notice before receiving their refund. 

“Consumers are often frustrated and confused by their payment experience, while providers face long delays and high costs to collect,” the report said. “Consumers and providers do not find this dynamic sustainable.”

Some consumers are tapping installment payment plans. Eighty percent of providers offer fee-free payment plans for patients to pay off balances over time, the report said.

Data related to healthcare payments shows claims payers are increasingly turning to the ACH network. Last October, Nacha, which manages the ACH network, said third-quarter healthcare claim payments rose 5.8% over last year to 122 million transactions. The following quarter, healthcare claim payments to medical and dental providers increased 7.7% to 127 million transactions, Nacha said. Overall, healthcare claim payment rose by 7.7% year-over-year to 488 million transactions via the ACH network, the organization said in a February press release.

JPMorgan has been paying closer attention to healthcare payment challenges as it builds its payments services for business-to-business clients in the sector. When it comes to embedded payments, JPMorgan has catered to healthcare in addition to other industries.