Study: Consumers Expecting Much More From Healthcare Experiences

In today’s evolving landscape, consumers increasingly expect their experience with healthcare organizations to be personalized and seamless, but according to a new report, many consumers still report facing major frustrations throughout the experience.

The analysis from software provider Redpoint Global, included responses from more than 1,000 U.S. adult consumers. Nearly half feel they are not receiving a holistic experience from their healthcare provider.

The data showed that 71 percent of responding consumers experience significant frustrations with their healthcare experiences, including long wait times, impersonal visits, a confusing process, and trouble when scheduling an appointment.

According to the researchers, taking “a data-driven approach is critical for healthcare organizations to meet rising consumer expectations. Unifying first-party, second-party, and third-party data in a single customer view enables healthcare providers to know all that is knowable about each consumer and use it to deliver real-time, personalized engagements that improve outcomes.”

Additional insights from the survey that healthcare organizations should be aware of include:

• Consumer satisfaction in healthcare is low: In fact, over half of consumers said they would rather endure a typically frustrating experience – such as waiting at the DMV or going to jury duty – than deal with a health insurance issue.
• One of the main ways patients want healthcare organizations to eliminate friction is by offering digital communications: 58 percent of consumers said that they prefer their healthcare interactions to be digital.
• Healthcare organizations need to improve data integration: More than half (54 percent) of consumers feel that their healthcare providers and insurers don’t have all the contextual information needed to personalize healthcare recommendations.
• Patients want the experience to be more personalized and catered to them as individuals: 61 percent said they would visit their healthcare provider more often if the communication experience felt more personalized.

“Modern healthcare organizations must adopt a consumer-centric way of thinking,” John Nash, chief marketing and strategy officer at Redpoint Global, said in a statement. “Consumer demands for a more holistic healthcare experience, better outcomes, and greater transparency in pricing are some of the key factors that are powering this shift. For healthcare payers and providers to deliver on this model and cater to today’s empowered consumer, they must have a deep understanding of each individual’s unique needs, offer highly relevant communications via preferred channels and generally remove friction from interactions – both digitally and in-person.”