Dive Brief:
- Several months ago, UnitedHealth launched an application allowing consumers to pay their medical bills online.
- Since the MyClaims Manager app launched last July, UH members have made more than $20 million in payments using credit cards, debit cards and bank accounts to 50,000 providers.
- Over time, the system has continued to grow in use, with a roughly 25% increase in transactions each month.
Dive Insight:
While it can't have been cheap to create, a system allowing patients to pay their bills online to the doctors offers several valuable benefits. For one thing, I'd wager that it increases overall collections for providers as people, at this point, are extremely used to paying their bills online. This, in turn, means happier doctors, who will have a better relationship with their patients. I'd argue that all health plans should have a system like this in place.