Patients report growing anxiety about the cost of care while continuing to place high confidence in their own clinicians, according to the fifth annual Patient Confidence Index released this week by PatientPoint.
Forty-three percent of respondents said their healthcare anxiety increased over the past 12 months. Respondents pointed to care affordability and out-of-pocket costs (54%), inflation (41%) and policy changes (39%) as the leading drivers. Forty-seven percent said they delayed routine preventive screenings and wellness visits.
Trust in individual clinicians ran well ahead of confidence in the broader system. Eighty-four percent of respondents said they trust their personal healthcare provider, and 5% reported active distrust. Seventy-four percent named their doctor as their leading source of health information, up from 45% in 2023. That placed physicians ahead of search engines, social media feeds and generative AI tools.
The survey also measured a gap between what patients hear during an appointment and what they carry out of it. Eighty-nine percent said their clinician delivers relevant education during the visit. At the same time, 41% said they leave appointments with unanswered questions or uncertainty about their care plan, medication instructions or next steps.
Views on artificial intelligence were split. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they were concerned that AI could eliminate the human element in medicine. Forty-nine percent said digital technology deployed inside the office improves their experience, citing faster diagnostic results, personalized treatment plans and automated scheduling as the top opportunities.
PatientPoint said the results indicate a need for outpatient practices to integrate price transparency tools, digital take-home educational summaries and automated follow-up communications to prevent patients from dropping out of care. The company said patient trust in providers creates an opening to use technology to support conversations, deliver more relevant information and help people feel more confident as they move through the healthcare system.
