How Digital Health Startups Are Rethinking the Patient Payment Experience

John A4 seconds ago

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Digital health startups are rethinking how patients pay for care.

And boy, does it need to happen.

The patient payment experience has been lagging decades behind. Paper bills. Confusing statements. Weeks of wait times. The whole process has been painful for patients…and costly for providers.

But here’s the problem…

Successful startups today understand one key lesson:

A good payment experience is part of patient care.

What you’ll discover:

Why patient payments are so bad
What digital health startups are doing to fix it
Why a compliant payment gateway is non-negotiable
How to choose the right payment solution

Ready?

Why Patient Payments Are Broken

Paying for healthcare has been broken for years.

The current system hands patients a confusing bill weeks — or even months — after they receive care. According to J.P. Morgan’s 2025 report, 71% of providers say it takes over 30 days to collect payment after a patient visit.

Patients are frustrated by hidden costs they can’t understand. Providers are frustrated that they can’t collect payments faster.

Instead of billing being the final step of care… providers are forced to chase down patients for money they don’t have.

Not only does it cost providers hundreds of dollars to send and re-send those bills…but patients never see prices upfront before their visit.

The patient billing experience needs an overhaul.

And digital health startups are on a mission to fix it.

What Digital Health Startups Are Doing Differently

Patient payments are being built into the care experience from day one.

Rather than being an afterthought, tech-forward digital health companies view payments as a core feature of their product.

Some of the startups doing this the best offer…

Transparent pricing up front before appointments
Digital-first billing with SMS and email invoices
One-click payment options patients actually use
Ability to break payments into affordable chunks

Patients shouldn’t have to wait weeks to receive a bill and decipher how much they owe. Instead, digital health startups are gathering payments through simple checkout flows integrated into the care experience itself.

Patients want instant gratification when it comes to paying for healthcare. If they pay for everything else digitally nowadays, healthcare shouldn’t be the exception.

That doesn’t mean the digital health startups treating payment experience as an afterthought are doomed to fail. Many will figure it out along the way.

But those taking care of payments from the start are seeing lower days in accounts receivables, happier customers, and better cashflow.

Here’s the catch…

Why Payment Gateways Need To Be Compliant

Just because you accept card payments online doesn’t mean healthcare works the same as buying shoes from Amazon.

Any time you process a payment from a patient… you’re handling sensitive data. Not only do you need to securely process that payment card information…but you need to protect your patients’ health data too.

Think of a compliant payment gateway as a tool that does two jobs:

One, it collects payments from your patients.

Two, it helps your business maintain PCI compliance and protects patient health information from data breaches.

Without it, you’re risking huge fines from government regulators.

In 2024 alone, there were over 725 healthcare data breaches within the United States. Healthcare providers ranging from small clinics to major hospital chains have reported breaches containing over 275 million records.

Any digital health startup collecting payments for telemedicine appointments needs a compliant payment gateway that secures customer data from the get-go. Providers like 2accept offer specialised telemedicine business account processing built specifically for healthcare companies that need secure, compliant payment infrastructure from the start.

Compliant payment gateways will have…

PCI compliance. Everything related to card transactions is secure.
HIPAA-ready software. Any patient data transferred during payment is safe.
Tokenisation. Payments are replaced with tokens so sensitive information is never exposed.
Multi-channel acceptance. Payments can be collected online, in-app, and through virtual care platforms.

If these features sound scary… imagine trying to grow your digital health startup without them.

How To Find The Right Payment Solution

When choosing a payment gateway, you’ll have many options.

Here are some features to keep in mind when selecting a payment solution for your digital health startup.

Compliance. Does your payment solution provide PCI-compliant payments? Do they understand HIPAA regulations? If the answer to any of these questions is no…keep searching.

The patient payment experience is critical to digital health startups… but without compliance, you’re risking your company’s reputation. Be sure any payment provider can prove compliance before moving forward.

The payment experience. A good payment gateway will offer seamless integration into your checkout flow. Payments should take seconds, not minutes. The easier you make payments for your customers…the faster you’ll get paid.

Features to look for:

Transparent pricing. No hidden fees or complicated rate structures.
Quick onboarding. Digital health startups don’t have time for slow payments companies. Make sure your partner can keep up with your growth.
Recurring billing. If you offer any kind of subscription service for telehealth visits… this is necessary.
Real-time reporting. You’ll want access to your payment data immediately, not a few days later.

Lastly, look for payment solutions that can scale with your startup. You may only be processing a few payments a month now. But what happens when your company takes off? Can your payment provider keep up?

The right payment infrastructure can help your digital health startup succeed from day one.