Link has been copied! Date:August 28, 2026 Back to Blog Why 92% of Americans Are Delaying Care: What It Means for Dermatology Increases in medical costs, higher prevalence of chronic conditions, advanced technologies, and an overall aging population have transformed how medical care is delivered in the United States.
While these adaptations are essential as U.S. patient demographics continue to shift, there’s one major trend that demonstrates how healthcare needs to align with patient needs – rather than the other way around. Recent data shows that more than 90 percent of U.S. adults have delayed or avoided medical care due to costs.
While this data demonstrates that adults are making these choices across every medical specialty, it is important to consider what this means for dermatology. Dermatology already struggles with routine visits from patients, with estimates showing that only 40 percent of Americans visit a dermatologist for an annual skin check. The broader trend of medical avoidance threatens to make that gap wider – and disproportionately impact those who are diagnosed with more severe conditions, like skin cancer.
What can dermatologists and other clinicians do to lower these barriers and ensure patients aren’t delaying essential care when it matters most?
Understanding the New Patient Mindset: Hesitation and Delay
With 92% of U.S. adults delaying or avoiding care due to cost, there are other considerations that are impacting how adults choose to pursue medical treatments. A non-melanoma skin cancer diagnosis, for instance, paired with recommendations for traditional invasive procedures like Mohs surgery, often compounds the financial anxiety with the hidden costs of surgical downtime, missed work, and intensive recovery.
Because of this, it’s important to recognize that today’s skin cancer patients are looking at more than clinical cure rates. While efficacy remains paramount, patients are also weighing questions like:
How much of this will be covered by insurance? What will I have to pay?
How much time will I miss from work if I undergo treatment?
What does recovery look like, and how long will it take?
Will I be able to keep doing what I love – or will I have to change my lifestyle?
With non-melanoma skin cancer, cure rates routinely exceed 95% when skin cancer lesions are caught and treated early. Delays in treatment allow cancerous cells to invade deeper tissue layers. This can result in larger lesions, more complex excisions, and higher recurrence rates.
Why Multiple Treatment Options are Important
As the data shows, every patient has different concerns and considerations for their treatment journey. When diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer, one patient’s primary anxiety might be out-of-pocket expense. Another patient may worry about post-operative wound care, and a third may be primarily concerned about how treatment may disrupt their lifestyle.
While Mohs surgery and surgical excision have historically been the preferred treatment options for non-melanoma skin cancer patients, it’s important for clinicians to provide alternative care pathways that align with individual patient needs.
After all, surgery may not be suitable for all patients. Elderly patients, or those who have multiple comorbidities, may be poor surgical candidates due to elevated risks. There are also critical considerations for alternative treatment options when the non-melanoma skin cancer lesion may appear in a cosmetically sensitive or high-risk zone, such as the nose, eyelid, ear, lip, or lower leg.
Beyond cosmetic concerns, surgical contraindications can complicate clinical decision-making. Patients on anticoagulants or anti-platelet therapies, for instance, may face heightened bleeding risks while undergoing surgery, or more severe issues related to cardiovascular health.
When non-melanoma skin cancer appears on lower extremities, relying on surgery as a treatment option can result in intensive, months-long wound care – a complication that disproportionately affects elderly or diabetic patients. Non-invasive treatment options like radiation therapy can avoid these surgical and wound-healing complications.
While affordability continues to drive overall medical hesitation, fear of surgical intervention and recovery downtime often pushes hesitant patients beyond seeking care. Offering proven non-surgical modalities, like Superficial Radiotherapy (SRT) from Sensus Healthcare, eliminates both barriers. As a result, patients gain access to an in-office alternative that protects their health without disrupting their livelihood.
The Role of Non-Invasive Treatment Options for Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
Offering multiple evidence-based modalities builds shared decision-making, allowing clinicians to tailor care to an individual’s unique priorities. When patients are actively involved in treatment selection, data shows that they are more likely to adhere to the care plan.
SRT from Sensus Healthcare delivers a proven, non-invasive alternative for patients. With cure rates comparable to Mohs surgery, SRT enables individuals to receive treatment right in their dermatologist’s office. Through a series of short visits, precise superficial X-ray energy targets the cancerous cells to destroy the non-melanoma skin cancer. Because healthy cells recover while malignant cells do not, there’s no need to pursue any follow-on laser or reconstructive surgery.
Modern superficial radiation therapy via SRT integrates high-resolution dermal ultrasound. This imagery allows clinicians to clearly visualize the tumor’s exact depth and margins beneath the skin’s surface prior to treatment. By tracking tumor regression throughout each session, clinicians can update treatment protocols in real time while showing patients visual proof of lesion eradication. This diagnostic visibility helps to ease patient anxiety, which fosters confidence and activates buy-in throughout the care plan.
For patients, SRT offers a painless treatment option that means they don’t have to miss work or change their lifestyle. In cases where the skin cancer lesion appears in cosmetically sensitive areas, it provides an option where there are no scalpels, no anesthesia, and no need for complex reconstruction. Overall, it provides a gentler and more accessible experience for patients.
Modernizing the Practice: The Strategic Impact for Dermatology Clinic Owners
Modernizing treatment options for patients will help to reduce the number of non-compliant patients due to procedural anxiety, lifestyle disruption, or financial stress. Innovation in dermatology means that non-invasive treatment options like SRT from Sensus Healthcare can benefit from established billing codes and consistent payer reimbursement across major commercial insurers and Medicare.
Integrating non-invasive modalities allows practices to recapture patients who might otherwise delay, cancel, or seek care elsewhere. By having several treatment options, and the ability to align treatment with a patient’s concerns and lifestyle, it improves the overall care and treatment landscape.
Ready to offer a non-invasive treatment option like SRT in your clinic? Reach out to our sales team today to learn more.