At A Glance
Experian Health’s State of Patient Access 2026 survey shows that timely access to care is the number one priority for patients. This article explains what patient access is, what makes it challenging, and how digital tools can help providers improve accuracy, efficiency and patient satisfaction.
Key takeaways:
- Patient access refers to the administrative processes that connect patients to care, including scheduling, registration and billing.
- What matters most to patients is being able to see their doctor quickly. However, challenges such as cost transparency and data accuracy continue to affect the patient access experience.
- Digital tools and AI can strengthen patient access while reducing the administrative workload. Solutions such as Patient Access Curator™ (PAC) help improve accuracy and support a better patient experience.
When patients are asked what matters most in healthcare, patient access comes out top. Experian Health’s State of Patient Access 2026 survey (SOPA) found that patient satisfaction hinges on how quickly patients can see their doctor.
Patient access refers to the administrative processes that connect patients to care, including scheduling appointments, registering for services, verifying insurance coverage and managing billing and communications.
But delivering a positive patient access experience isn’t always straightforward. Meeting patients’ expectations is an increasing challenge in the context of ongoing staffing shortages, increasing costs and policy reforms. Understanding what patient access is and the challenges that affect it helps providers figure out how and where to adapt.
Download the report to get comprehensive healthcare insights on patient and provider perspectives, including key priorities and challenges.
Common challenges in patient access today
Providers are more optimistic about the state of patient access, according to the latest SOPA survey. Forty-six percent think access is better now than it was a year ago, up ten points from last year. However, only a fifth of patients agree. The report highlights three areas where challenges persist:
| Key challenges: | |
| 1. Appointment availability | Timely access to practitioners has been the top patient challenge for four years now, suggesting that efforts to improve access have not yet translated into faster appointments. |
| 2. Financial transparency | Thirty-two percent of patients report that paying for care has become more difficult compared with last year, citing affordability concerns and a lack of clarity around how much they’ll have to pay. More patients are receiving accurate estimates before care, but there are also more forgoing care because of insufficient upfront cost information. |
| 3. Front-end data accuracy | Errors in demographic or insurance data can lead to claim denials, billing confusion and delays later in the revenue cycle. Improving the speed, accuracy and completeness of patient insurance searches is a top operational challenge for nearly four in ten providers. |
Patient Access Curator addresses this by using AI to identify incorrect or incomplete data upfront so issues can be resolved in real time. By improving data accuracy at the front end, providers can reduce administrative rework and prevent downstream claim denials.
Hear how Exact Sciences automates eligibility and coverage discovery with Patient Access Curator
Trends and the future of patient access
As providers work to address these challenges, technological advancements and new policies can make the future of healthcare hard to predict. However, certain patient access trends look set to continue:
- Patients will increasingly seek easy-to-use digital platforms for accessing and paying for care, especially as younger generations age and increase their utilization of healthcare services.
- Patients want more personalized care that reflect individual needs and preferences.
- The use of data analytics and AI will continue to grow, helping providers identify patterns and automate workflows.
SOPA 2026 suggests that digital tools are already making a difference. Patients report growing satisfaction with the digital and mobile solutions offered by healthcare organizations, and patient portals are increasingly becoming the default channel for registration and communication. As these technologies mature, they are becoming an increasingly important part of how healthcare organizations manage patient intake.
Experian Health solutions that support patient access
Offering patients online, digital and self-service options for scheduling, pre-registration and payments leads to a better patient experience. For example:
| Digital & self-service solutions |
| Patient Intake Solutions help streamline scheduling, registration and patient communications, giving patients more convenience, choice and control over how they access care |
| Patient Payment Estimates provide an accurate, personalized breakdown of financial responsibility, sent directly to the patient’s phone so they can better understand and plan for the cost of care. |
By reducing the administrative workload and improving workflows, data accuracy and communication, these front-end tools also help staff work more efficiently. For example:
| Front-end solutions |
| Patient Access Curator uses AI to automate front-end patient access processes, identify incorrect or incomplete data upfront and resolve inaccuracies in real time. By improving data accuracy at the front end, providers can reduce administrative rework and prevent many downstream claim denials. |
| Healthcare data analytics help providers track performance metrics, identify workflow bottlenecks and generate insights that support ongoing improvements in patient access operations. |
For organizations facing more complex patient access challenges, a partner such as Experian Health can help implement these tools in ways that best fit their operational needs.
Learn more about Experian Health’s patient access solutions
Metrics that matter — KPIs for patient access success
As providers invest in new approaches, measuring performance becomes increasingly important. Common metrics might include:
- Wait times for appointments, diagnostic tests and procedures
- Speed and accuracy of the appointment scheduling process
- Percentage of patient access-related inquiries resolved on first contact
- No-show rates, which might indicate communication or scheduling issues
- Efficiency and accuracy of insurance verification, coding and billing
- Revenue collected before or at the point of service
- Staff performance and productivity
Tracking these metrics will help providers see what’s working and what’s not. With the right patient access tools, organizations can make more informed decisions to improve both the patient experience and operational efficiency.
FAQs
Patient access describes the non-clinical activities that determine how patients find and receive care. This includes booking appointments, completing registration, insurance eligibility verification and payments. Experian Health solutions are designed to streamline these front-end processes and make accessing care simpler for patients.
Experian Health’s State of Patient Access 2026 survey shows how patient access affects both patient satisfaction and healthcare operational performance. If scheduling, registration and billing processes are clunky and slow, providers will fail to deliver high-quality and timely care to those who need it.
Digital and mobile patient access solutions help meet patients’ expectations for a more convenient and flexible experience, while automation and AI enable providers to work more efficiently. Experian Health’s Patient Access Curator supports this by delivering more accurate patient information faster.
Find out more about how Experian Health’s patient access solutions can help providers improve patient satisfaction, increase operational efficiency and future-proof their revenue cycle.
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