Advancing Consumer Engagement Through Technology

Consumers represent a major untapped workforce in the healthcare system today. Consumers and providers working together in unison could be the unprecedented force we have been looking for to solve the systems quality/cost dilemma.  

Providers have been the pinnacle of yesterday’s system but the need to shift the focus on consumers is quite clear. First, even if you see yourself as a B2B company, consumers are the end users to all organizations. Second, consumer actions influence outcomes and third, their loyalty determines your financial success.

Current mega trends support the need to engage consumers even further. Hospitals and providers are under varying degrees of risk models and are recognizing the need for consumers to be more involved in their care; health plans want to change the relationship from coverage decision maker to partner in health and cost improvement; and emerging innovative companies are disrupting the marketplace with new places and types of services. Historically, regardless of industry, consumers have migrated to products and services that better meet their needs. We should expect no different regarding consumer behavior in healthcare.  

Technology innovation is further paving the way for this transformation. Today, it is the exception to be without internet access and a mobile device. More service industries are moving to these venues and while healthcare is still behind, adoption is increasing even in populations once thought to be technology adverse. In 2012, Pew Research Center reported that more than half of seniors are online and 70 percent of those use the internet as part of a usual day—with healthcare in their top five reasons. Further, the retail industry has set the bar high in terms of creating personalized consumer experiences and leveraging social media data. For healthcare it will take a more robust data analytics infrastructure to make it meaningful at the individual consumer level.

From a solutions perspective, to accelerate consumer engagement in healthcare, we need to put consumers at the center of a coordinated support community and eliminate layered, confusing models of the past. In addition, we can’t just promote “cool tools,” tools need to be positioned as part of the full continuum of health and healthcare (from wellness to end-of-life care). 

The greatest emphasis to drive adoption needs to be on approach to consumerism models. We boil it down to three concepts: 1) ease of access, 2) work required and 3) value out. The early experience with personal health records (PHRs) highlights this need. They demanded much from consumers to enter data on with limited value out. As a result, adoption was slow and otherwise solid technology companies withdraw from the market. A clear demonstration that consumers will “vote with their feet” and either not participate or go elsewhere if their needs aren’t met.

In summary, to accelerate consumer adoption of technology solutions in healthcare as an industry we need to maximize all consumer touch points, offer a full continuum of options, focus on ease of use and value for consumers and organizations, and keep making them better.