Before a visit, most patients want the same few things answered. What will I owe? What do I need to fill out? How do I pay? They’d like to handle all of it from their phone, whenever it suits them. Healthcare finance leaders have noticed. In the FinThrive 2026 Transformative Trends Report, 71% of RCM leaders named patient experience their top organizational goal. That’s up from 48% two years earlier and ahead of increasing revenue at 58%. It’s also the first time patient experience has come out on top since FinThrive began tracking these priorities in 2023.
Patient access teams are working with processes that are often still fragmented, manual and dependent on staff time. The report describes digital convenience as a baseline expectation. Patients want scheduling, estimates and payment options to be as easy as what they get in retail, travel or banking. Guided digital steps before and after care give patients an easier path. They also give staff time back for the work that needs a person.
The most useful digital engagement strategies start with the questions patients need answered at each point in their financial journey. Each question reveals an opportunity to make the experience clearer for patients and more manageable for staff.
What Will This Cost?
Cost is usually the first question, and it’s a hard one to answer well. FinThrive Payment Estimator builds the out-of-pocket number from payer contracts, historical claims data and each patient’s own benefit information. Estimation accuracy runs 95% to 99%, and the solution has generated more than 2.5 million estimates.
Hospital and physician charges roll into a single estimate, so patients get one number. They can generate it themselves, or staff can walk through it with them. The same capability backs up price transparency and good faith estimate requirements. It also gives financial counselors a stronger starting point.
What Do I Need to Do Before My Visit?
FinThrive Virtual Intake answers the second question with a short, guided checklist. Patients check in, fill out forms and upload documents from whatever device they have. They don’t need an app or a portal. Reminders, arrival instructions, geofencing and wayfinding tell them where to be and when. Payment reminders and two-way messaging keep things moving. Automated outreach built on configurable business logic reduces manual effort for staff.
Leaders are putting money here. Among the patient experience initiatives in the Transformative Trends Report, 52% cited scheduling and self-service tools and 31% cited virtual care options such as remote intake.
For staff, that means less paper, less data entry and fewer front-desk backups. They also get a clear view of what each patient has finished and what still needs follow-up. Virtual Intake integrates with leading EHR and PMS systems. It also ties intake, document management and payment workflows together.
How Do I Pay?
FinThrive Patient Payment Manager gives patients flexible digital options before, during and after service. They can pay from a mobile device, use self-service or set up a payment plan. Secure omnichannel communications put billing information in front of them where they prefer to engage.
Patients use it. Here’s what that looks like: 
Payments drew attention in the report too. 41% of leaders cited improving patient payment processes. The report describes this as clear estimates upfront paired with flexible options such as digital wallets and personalized payment plans. You can see how organizations approach this on the modernize patient engagement page.
Is the Patient Financially Clear?
This one comes from the staff side. Someone has to know which patients have finished intake, who has an estimate and whose eligibility or authorization is still open. FinThrive Access Coordinator connects scheduling, cost estimation, patient messaging and document management back to eligibility verification and authorization in one platform, along with payment options. Staff can see task and patient status in one place. That means fewer manual handoffs, better coordination and more informed financial clearance.
FinThrive patient access technology is powered by FinThrive Fusion®, our connected data intelligence engine. Access Coordinator brings patient interactions, staff tasks and financial clearance workflows into one connected platform.
How the Answers Build on Each Other
When patients receive an accurate estimate, the payment conversation becomes clearer and they can act on the amount they were already given.
The report shows how leaders measure this. Digital engagement rates, estimation accuracy and payment conversion rates are now seen as leading indicators of margin stability. Those line up with the same questions patients ask: what they completed, what they were told and what they paid.
The next step is making those answers feel like one conversation. Patients get clarity before they walk in, and staff can begin more visits with a clearer view of what has been completed and what still needs attention. To see how the pieces fit, explore FinThrive Patient Access solutions.
