Person centric payment interactions in healthcare

: how could a future healthcare payment system look like and what can we learn from other industries?

Abstract

A high level of bureaucracy and a low level of digitization lead to inefficient administrative tasks, especially payment processes for privately insured persons and out-of-pocket expenses, in medical clinics in Germany. Technological innovation can digitize the processes and improvethe customer- and user-experience significantly as seen in online retail. This study applies qualitative research, i.e., semi-structured interviews, with patients and medical clinics to explore if there is a need for technological change of payment processes clinics in Germany and what are the requirements for a convenient payment process. Combined with learnings from the literature recommendations for healthcare organizations are derived sothat these push digital solution in the market. The findings indicate a general satisfaction of clinics and patients with the payment process as they do not verbalize a need for technological change. However, they express a non-verbalized need for change. Based on how they talk about payment processes, they are subconsciously revealing they do not believe that change is possible in the healthcare industry. Healthcare organizations can drive technological change and implement payment processes which create a convenient customer- and user-experience by probing stakeholders with different options(e.g., from online retail) to overcome inertia and a lack of capacity to stimulate expressing their needs.

Date of Award	26 Jan 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Henrique Martins (Supervisor)