Patient Payment Trends in 2025: What Healthcare Practices Should Offer

Talea Munley

Promptly Product Owner

Today’s healthcare consumers expect far more from their experience than just quality care. They’re looking for better service, smoother digital billing, and healthcare payment options that reflect how they shop for just about everything else.

For an increasing number of patients, healthcare needs to catch up to the convenience they enjoy in other areas of their lives. That includes mobile-first solutions and streamlined patient payment options. A recent J.P. Morgan report notes that 72% of consumers under 35 have switched providers (or are willing to do so) for a better healthcare payment experience.

As quickly as the digital landscape is changing, many patients still prefer traditional methods like mailing checks or calling the front desk. They feel more comfortable speaking directly to a person or receiving paper statements in the mail. These preferences still matter, and healthcare providers must continue to cater to them, too.

So what does a better payment experience look like in 2025? Now, more than ever, patients expect convenience, transparency, and flexibility when paying for their healthcare.

Convenience

62% of consumers prefer to pay their medical bills online—but your practice should continue to meet all patients where they are.

Transparency

Only 22% of consumers say they always know how much they owe before they head into a provider visit. This can lead to confusion, frustration, and sometimes even delayed treatment.

Flexibility

U.S. health expenditures are projected to grow from $4.5 trillion in 2022 to $7.7 trillion by 2032, making flexible healthcare payment options more critical than ever.

Convenience: Offer payment options tailored to every patient

‍

Convenience isn’t a nice bonus—it’s the new standard. From clothes shopping to ordering takeout, consumers today are accustomed to easy, intuitive payment experiences. That expectation now extends to healthcare: 62% of consumers prefer to pay their medical bills online.

At the same time, not everyone wants to pay their bill online—and practices need to meet all patients where they are.

Here’s how Promptly makes that possible:

Automated paper statements: Promptly mails paper statements to patients who opt out of digital billing, without placing extra burden on your staff.
Kiosk payments: Your patients can pay conveniently via kiosk when they check in at your practice.

Quick pay via text or email: Patients receive links via text or an email and can pay in seconds.
Digital wallets: Promptly supports Google Pay, Apple Pay, and is working to expand further.

When healthcare practices offer flexible digital billing tools, they empower patients to take action as soon as they’re ready—and give staff more time to focus on delivering better care. (And when you make it easier for patients to pay, you’ll recover balances more efficiently and save staff time.)

‍

Transparency: Help patients better understand costs

‍

Healthcare payments can be confusing. Between unpredictable deductibles and out-of-network costs, patients often don’t know what to expect financially until after they’ve received care. Only 22% of consumers say they always know how much they owe before they head into a provider visit, often leading to confusion, frustration, and even delayed treatment.

At Promptly, we make transparency easier for everyone:

Coverage visibility: Our system integrates with your practice management and electronic health record systems and informs patients upfront whether their appointment is covered.
Pre-visit estimates: When available, Promptly shares predicted costs for services.
Post-visit balances: Patients can check what they owe after their visit by accessing their digital dashboard, or following links sent over text or email.
Itemized billing: When supported by a practice’s PM system, Promptly can show breakdowns by individual charges.

In each case, we work within what your practice’s systems allow, while staying fully compliant. Being transparent doesn’t mean overwhelming your patients with too many details. It means sharing the right information at the right time, building trust and helping patients make informed choices. (Beyond integrating with your existing PM and EHR systems, we offer many options for customizing the patient and team experience.)

‍

Flexibility: Support different ways to pay and lower patients’ financial stress

‍

U.S. health expenditures are projected to grow from $4.5 trillion in 2022 to $7.7 trillion by 2032. As healthcare costs continue to rise, more and more patients will find it challenging to pay their bills all at once. Offering flexible healthcare payment options isn’t just compassionate—it’s good business.

Promptly helps make it seamless for staff and for patients:

Custom no-interest payment plans: Practices can set plan rules based on balance thresholds, duration, and frequency, and send out automated messages explaining different payment plans to patients.

Payment history access: Patients can access payment information on their device or via email, just as with any other Promptly service.
CareCredit integration: Patients can apply for low-rate lines of credit through CareCredit with a soft pull (no impact to their credit score). These funds can cover out-of-pocket expenses with Promptly, from botox to an annual eye exam.

The result? Patients get payment options that match their income and lifestyle, and practices get paid faster while saving staff time.

‍

Meeting rising patient expectations

‍

As patient expectations increase, healthcare practices need tools that keep pace. At Promptly, we help modernize patient payments without leaving traditional patients behind. From paper to digital, mobile to in-person, we provide smarter payment options and help practices support more patient preferences than ever before.

‍

Interested in offering smarter, more modern patient payment options in your practice?

Schedule a demo

No items found.

About the author