Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Expenditure Study
Understand how households evaluate, compare, and manage direct healthcare payments across consultations, diagnostics, medicines, hospitalisation, and follow-up care, so you can sharpen affordability positioning, design relevant payment solutions, and improve patient acquisition, retention, and channel strategy.
CONTEXT & RELEVANCE
Why run this survey now
Most households don't lose healthcare access purely on headline price. They defer care due to unpredictable bills, medicine costs, travel expenses, income loss, and financing gaps, none of which fully show up in claims data or satisfaction scores.
If you are...
- Hospital strategy leadership
- Health insurer product teams
- Diagnostics network executives
- Patient financing providers
- Public health programme owners
You're likely facing...
- High care utilisation still produces unpredictable household spending
- Growing medicine costs create treatment adherence gaps across cohorts
- Limited bill transparency weakens provider trust and choice
- Rising travel and wage loss drive care postponement
- Positive clinical experiences coexist with low repeat affordability
This will help answer...
- Household expenditure composition
- Critical affordability thresholds
- Care deferral triggers
- Preferred payment mechanisms
- Priority patient segments
RESEARCH THEMES
What This Survey Investigates
Eight interconnected research themes that map the complete household healthcare spending journey from care need to financial recovery.
Care Utilisation
- Recent healthcare episodes
- Unresolved treatment needs
Spend Composition
- Medical cost categories
- Indirect household expenses
Payment Sources
- Funding source mix
- Borrowing and instalments
Affordability Pressure
- Payment difficulty thresholds
- Household budget trade-offs
Care Deferral
- Delayed treatment moments
- Incomplete care pathways
Provider & Channel
- Provider selection criteria
- Cost information channels
Coverage Gaps
- Insurance shortfall categories
- Claims and exclusions
Support Preferences
- Payment assistance concepts
- Cost communication needs
SAMPLING STRATEGY
Tell us about your ideal sample
Help us understand your target respondent profile. Select what applies, we'll design the optimal sample plan based on your inputs.
METHODOLOGY
Survey approach
For Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Expenditure Study, we recommend a quantitative-first mixed approach with flexible data-collection modes to balance reach, depth, and verification across diverse household income and care-use profiles.
EXECUTION PROCESS
How we execute
A proven 9-step process from scoping to delivery, designed to ensure quality, speed, and actionable insights.
Define the decision frame
Confirm objectives, target cohorts, geographies, and reporting cuts
Define the decision frame
Design the instrument
Build workstream modules mapped to outputs (drivers, friction, pricing, retention, trust)
Design the instrument
Lock the questionnaire
Review wording, sequencing, LOI, and competitive context; approve final version
Lock the questionnaire
Pilot and calibrate
Test comprehension and ease quality; refine quotas and remove friction where needed
Pilot and calibrate
Run fieldwork
Execute collection with active quota management and feasibility controls
Run fieldwork
Assure quality
Dedupe, attention checks, speed/consistency rules, removals with audit trail
Assure quality
Prepare the dataset
Clean data and deliver codebook/variable definitions
Prepare the dataset
Analyse and synthesise
Driver ranking, leakage diagnostics, pricing bands, segment insights
Analyse and synthesise
Deliver and align
Executive deck (optional dashboard) and leadership readout with recommendations
Deliver and align
COMMERCIAL TERMS
Request a Commercial Proposal
Pricing depends on cohort, geography, sample size, approach, LOI, and deliverables. Configure below for an indicative estimate.
Select Sample Size
Geography
Select Mode of Survey
Length of the Interview
$0.00
+ applicable taxes
Cost Breakdown
Note: Estimate is indicative only. Final pricing is subject to scope finalization after discovery call.
REFERENCE CASELETS
Reference
Real-world examples of survey work in the healthcare affordability and patient finance space.
Healthcare Financing Product Positioning Among Urban Families (India)
OBJECTIVE
WHAT WE DID
DELIVERED
Healthcare Financing Product Positioning Among Urban Families (India)
Diagnostic Package Value Perception Across Patient Segments (India)
Healthcare Financing Product Positioning Among Urban Families (India)
OBJECTIVE
A pan-India financial services provider needed to understand how salaried families , self-employed households , and senior-led homes evaluated medical credit, instalment plans, and emergency loans when facing planned procedures or sudden hospital bills.
WHAT WE DID
We ran a structured survey across six cities, capturing product awareness , trust , approval expectations, repayment comfort, preferred application channels, and choice between credit cards , provider instalments, personal loans, and dedicated medical finance.
DELIVERED
The study produced a preference map by family type, a message territory framework for reassurance and speed, a channel-priority view, and a friction list covering documentation, hidden-fee concerns, approval uncertainty, and repayment anxiety.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common Questions
Answers to frequently asked questions about this survey mandate.
What decisions will this survey enable?
Who is the buyer vs who are the respondents?
Can we see differences between insured households, partly insured households and uninsured households?
How will you measure healthcare payment decisions beyond simple ratings?
Will the survey map the full healthcare spending journey and drop-offs?
Can this survey inform product and pricing strategy?
How will findings improve our affordability positioning and patient acquisition?
Still have questions?
Schedule a discovery call to discuss your specific needs and get a custom quote.