The State of Patient Access –2024

This report, based on a survey of 200 healthcare employees and 1,036 patients/guardians, examined the perspectives from each group on: 

•  how well patient access functions are managed in U.S. healthcare 
•  the order of importance both place on the functions that make up the patient access experience
•  a ranking of what functions are best meeting the expectations of both 

Reflecting more positive sentiment than in past surveys, both cohorts indicated that access is finally showing improvement after the frustration evident throughout and immediately following the COVID pandemic.

There is still much room for improvement, and healthcare lags far behind other service verticals in both convenience and price transparency, but the improvement should be noted.

Sample findings:

•  Patients who feel access is better jumped 11 percentage points and providers showed even more optimism, with those thinking access is better increasing by 28 percentage points.
•  Both patients and providers rank accurate estimates and the ability to quickly find a patient’s insurance coverage (and what it covers) as the top two areas to improve
•  Seeing a doctor quickly is the biggest pain point for patients – for the fourth consecutive year of the survey
•  Nearly half of providers (49%) say that patient information errors are a primary cause of denied claims
•  Self-scheduling is back in the “must-have” column, with 63% of providers currently offering it