Patient Engagement High Priority for Millennial Patients
By Sara Heath
- Patient engagement proves to be of high priority in the ever-evolving healthcare landscape, and providers and payers are seeing shifts in how patients purchase healthcare and health insurance because of patient engagement. This shift is due to the growing number of Millennials purchasing their own healthcare independently and the value they place on patient engagement. A recent survey as a part of Nuance’s Art of Medicine Study details this shift and explains Millennials’ priorities when receiving medical care.
“As patients play a much greater role in determining how, when, and where they receive care, organizations that don’t stay closely connected to their patients won’t be able to survive,” says Trace Devanny, President of the Healthcare Division at Nuance. “Providers need to better understand the populations they serve and the threats to their business to remain competitive in their market and best manage their patients’ needs.”
According to Nuance, with a population of over 80 million, Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest generation of healthcare consumers, compared with Baby Boomers’ population of over 75 million. Because Millennials are becoming the largest population of healthcare consumers, and are increasingly making their own independent decisions regarding their healthcare, it is important that payers and providers begin to familiarize themselves with Millennials’ unique behaviors and needs in order to serve both them and Baby Boomers.
In order to paint a clearer picture of Millennial healthcare consumers, Nuance conducted a survey of over 3,000 individuals regarding medical care preferences. The survey results show that Millennials strongly favor a personal touch when visiting with their physicians. Nearly 73 percent of respondents state that adequate time for discussion constitutes for a better physician visit. Similarly, 66 percent state that verbal communication of specific recommendations characterizes a positive physician visit.
However, 40 percent of respondents say they feel rushed during their physician appointments and do not receive the level of discussion they’d been expecting. These negative experiences have a notable effect on whether that patient will return to that healthcare facility or even continue to purchase healthcare at all.
Other favorable physician practices include increased patient privacy, maintained eye contact, body positioning near the patient, and handshakes or personal contact between the patient and physician. These patterns suggest that Millennials favor physicians who are more personable and make them feel more at ease throughout their appointment.
The Nuance survey does not disclose what kinds of physician practices are important to Baby Boomer patients, nor does it indicate whether or not they value similar personal touches that Millennials do. However, the survey does note that Baby Boomers tend to visit with their physicians more frequently than Millennials do, with 39 percent visiting three to six times per year, and 22 percent visiting seven or more times per year. Although the study does not explore the preferences of Baby Boomers, it is important to consider the frequency with which they visit their physicians and to take into account their preferences, as well.
While Nuance says that a majority of Millennial patients only visit their physicians once or twice a year, their feedback is still critical for providers and payers. Over 60 percent of Millennials are less likely to provide negative feedback to their healthcare providers than they are to share negative experiences with friends or family. This is striking because Millennial patients are reportedly two times as likely to trust recommendations from acquaintances when choosing a physician. In contrast, over 40 percent of Baby Boomers are likely to do the opposite -- provide feedback to providers rather than friends after a negative experience.
Millennials are consulting with more than just family and friends when selecting a physician. They are also consulting the Internet for physician reviews, Anthony Oliva, MD, wrote in a Nuance post. Over 50 percent of 18-24 year olds search online for health information, and over 40 percent of 25-34 year olds do, as well. This means that providing the kind of personal care Millennials value is important -- bad reviews, whether personal or online, will deter future patients from a certain provider. While the survey acknowledges that currently only 36 percent of respondents use the Internet to select a physician, it also suggests that that number will increase.
As payers and providers alike are adapting to new changes within the healthcare industry, it is important for them to take into consideration the growing population of Millennial healthcare consumers. This means taking into account preferences of personal exchange, patient engagement, and habits of sharing negative experiences with friends and family. In order to maintain patient loyalty and thrive financially, payers and providers will have to continue down the road of healthcare evolution bearing in mind their largest demographic.
