Modern Healthcare Consumer

Introduction of healthcare technology, which has been seen to grow at a feasible rate, has changed everything we know about healthcare. With patient satisfaction being on the spotlight for healthcare stakeholders, connecting and appointing though simple means, managing health between visits, and a mobile patient experience are all the modern healthcare consumer wants.

In modern healthcare, most patients do not want any more doctors’ visits. What made everything worse in the past was dreading the time off work, commuting to the doctor’s office and the worst of all, the wait time. It is not a surprise that modern healthcare consumers are looking forward to bypass all that. Accustomed to getting everything from entertainment on demand to banking services, they are more than ready to approach healthcare in the same manner.

According to the recent statistics, there should be no more waiting time for the future of healthcare experience. Healthcare want new and simple ways in choosing a physician, connecting with them and getting their time managed withlittle healthcare cost.

This desire for change has been predicted to affect many processes such as choosing a physician especially for younger and tech-savvy patients. For example, 9% of all insured patients and 70% of all millennials who were recently surveyed said that they would prefer a primary care physician who offers a mobile app over the ones who do not.

Recent surveys show that, while traditional in-person engagements are still common when connecting and appointing, web continues to grow at an unprecedented scale. After a survey by Sales Force, here are results of how patients currently connect with providers:

How patients review health data from doctors

·         10% patients use email

·         11% consider using mobile phones

·         21% use the web while

·         40% consider in person visits to get health data information

How patients currently keep track of health data

·         9 percent of respondents believe that no one keeps track of health data

·         28 percent keep physical record of health data

·         36 percent keep electronic records while

·         62 percent of patients reply on their doctors on keeping track of their health data

Social media has offered a new perspective

Social media has offered a new perspective when it comes to healthcare marketing to consumers. This is because they:

·         Provide patient education- Social media has become a reliable source of self-help and healthcare information.

·         Can be found on major search engines - Social media site appear on the first page of search engines nowadays.

·         Providers can direct patients to their content- This has been enabled through use of blogs, YouTube channels and websites.

Patient satisfaction is key

With patient satisfaction being the main issue in modern healthcare, keeping patients happy has been seen as a revenue-generating spot. Actually, it costs 90 percent less to get a patient back on a healthcare follow-up visit than to attract a new one. Here are survey results according to Beryl Health:

·         Healthcare facilities with patient satisfaction at 90^th percentile have a 33 percent increase in patient volume

·         Provision of interactive care such as post-discharge calls has reduce heart failure readmissions by 74%

·         62 percent of medical discrepancies were discovered after home visits or post-discharge follow-up calls

·         Patients who receive post-discharge calls have their care ranked at 90^th percentile

What about patient engagement?

Patient engagement is also key to patient satisfaction in modern healthcare.  Below are results of a recent survey on how providers engage with patients in modern health care:

Websites for patients

36% of physicians allow patients to use websites to access directions, forms, and other basic information while 30% plan to start using it in the next one year.

 Social networking

19% use social networks to engage with patients while 14% plan to start in the next 12 months

Email or text questions by patients

33% of healthcare providers allow patients use email or text questions while 21% plan to start the same in the next one year

Modern Healthcare Consumers want a Mobile Patient experience

After introduction of healthcare information technology, many healthcare facilities or healthcare consumers have begun to embrace mobile workflows, electronic health records, wearable medical devices and video patient education. Even after this new initiative and invention, many care providers have not yet embraced mobile communication with their patients, or they have not fully explored its potential.

For healthcare companies to exercise and improve digital patient experience, here is what they should start:

1.       Use Online Portals- At this level, Modern healthcare consumers want increased digital access to their physicians’ offices. This includes the ability to schedule appointments, send and receive messages, view medical records, and even request for prescription refills. According to recent survey, 86% of patients who have access to online portals use them for all their communication with their care providers. In addition, 67% of providers who don’t offer online portals wish that they did.

2.       Virtual Communications-Connecting and appointing online can be a real time-saver for many patients. One good thing about virtual communications is that you don’t have to go for in person appointments at all. According to a recent study, 31% of healthcare consumers have used mobile apps to communicate to their providers about a certain medical condition. Of those 31%, 80% prefer this modern method to office visits. In fact, there is that time when doctors need to perform a physical examination but with video chats, patients appreciate the saved time and commuter’s cost.

3.       Mobile Apps- Optimizing your online portal for mobile and mobile app viewing is another great step to enhance digital healthcare communication. About 90% of healthcare consumers say that they would prefer using mobile apps to access information from their provider’s offices.

4.       Wearable Medical Devices- Most healthcare consumers are already using wearable devices and healthcare apps to track their fitness and manage their own care. But because most healthcare providers lack an efficient way to get and evaluate this information, doctors miss this key health data. By using wearable devices in patient communication, doctors can stay on top with patient health trends and offer the connected care that all modern healthcare consumers want.