The report, based on responses from more than 2,500 people who had visited a hospital, clinic or other healthcare facility for treatment in the year preceding August 2019, found that three-quarters of patients research healthcare costs beforehand, relying most heavily on provider and payer websites.
Beyond merely conducting this research, more than 60 percent of respondents said knowing their out-of-pocket costs ahead of time determines how likely they are to pursue treatment at all, and almost half said being able to access cost information can impact their decision to visit a specific provider.
Gen Z and millennial respondents were most swayed by this research. Around 85 percent of both groups said they perform some kind of research on healthcare costs, compared to 73 percent of Gen Xers and just 65 percent of boomers. And while almost two-thirds of the younger cohorts said cost transparency affects their decision to utilize a provider, barely one-third of boomers agreed.
View the full survey results here.
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