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Get Ready for Shift from Patient to Healthcare Consumer

 |  By John Commins  
   August 27, 2012

We are not yet at the point where factors and prompts that consumers weigh for healthcare purchases are driven by the same incentives as buying furniture or a new set of tires.

At the same time, providers and payers would be unwise to think that basic consumer values that include price, quality, selection, convenience and service don't apply to healthcare.

The rise of the high-deductible health insurance plan and other economic forces are increasingly turning patients into healthcare consumers. Common sense says that more "skin in the game" will reduce utilization as healthcare consumers will rethink elective care or shop around for the best deal.

When they opt for a course of treatment they will be more demanding and less forgiving of bad service when they're paying more of the cost. That's the way it is with all other goods and services and healthcare, after all, is close to consuming 20% of the Gross Domestic Product.

A report released this summer by the Health Research Institute of PwC US provides some insights into the mind of the healthcare consumer. Based on a survey of 6,000 people, the report found that consumer expectations in healthcare follow other industries. For example:

  • Provider staff attitude was the main contributor to positive experiences by 70% of consumers, compared to 38% of retail shoppers and 33% of bank, and airline customers.
  • Price was the top driver of purchasing decisions for consumers in every industry except healthcare. Personal experience is the top reason for choosing a doctor or hospital, and it's more than 2.5 times more important than to consumers in other industries.
  • When asked about the conveniences and services they value from providers, 69% said they want facilities that offer multiple services in one location; 65% want to exchange information through online and mobile channels; 57% place a high value on patient education during a visit; and 53% value the cafeteria and access to Wi-Fi and other entertainment.
  • Choice of physicians and quick claims payment topped consumers' demands from insurers.   
  • Only 44% of insurance consumers and 54% of provider consumers tell anyone within a month of having a positive experience compared to 70% of retail and 66% of banking customers.
  • Six of 10 negative consumer experiences are more likely to be remembered for longer in the provider industry compared to other industries.

PwC principal Paul D'Alessandro says the survey shows that healthcare consumers are becoming more aware of their care options and more willing to exercise their choices. In short, they are acting more like consumers and less like patients.  

"We have seen across many different industries a cohort of customers that often vote with their feet given the right experience, let's say it is on the order of 25%-33%. If you don't give them the right thing they will move to the next solution provider. Traditionally we have found the healthcare industry to be much stickier—less than 20%—because ‘I have a doctor who knows me and my history, yada yada yada,'" D'Alessandro tells HealthLeaders Media.

 "What we are seeing is an increase of up to 36%-38% of respondents who are willing to switch providers given the right opportunity. The only industry that differs like that is the hotel industry where people switch on the order of 60% given the right hotel opportunities."

Economic forces, the Internet and social media are causing that traditional bond between providers and patients to come unglued. Rather than gnashing teeth about the rise of the healthcare consumer, D'Alessandro says smart providers are preparing for new opportunities.

"There are providers that have taken steps to be more empathetic, to understand my needs, understand that it goes way beyond the interaction with the clinician and understand it goes all the way back to the check in," he says.

Focusing on consumer values can be a time- and money-saving opportunity for providers.

"When I am in the hospital it is things like how many times to they clean my room every day or how many times do they come in and bother me. Oftentimes we show that is more important than the amount of time the doctor spends with me," D'Alessandro says.

"Providers are focusing on the wrong things now and amazingly there are opportunities to focus on things that are less expensive but more meaningful." Consumer interaction with clinical staff, for example, should stress quality over quantity.

"There are specific clinical environments that are pursuing things like more interaction with the clinician – how can we increase the frequency of the floor nurse visit to the room or the doctor coming in the morning and evening?  We find that is not what the consumer is looking for," D'Alessandro says.

"They want one interaction that is meaningful with two-way conversations and then for the rest of the day it is more like a hotel room. Have the maids visit once a day and do a nice job. Have the trays taken away at a consistent time. Meet my dietary needs and don't frustrate me with crazy stuff that was meant for another patient."

D'Alessandro concedes that much of this is commonsensical.

"What is the big surprise? The big surprise is people aren't doing anything about it yet," he says. Providers and payers could take a lesson from the travel, leisure, and hotel/hospitality industries which D'Alessandro says went through a similar churn 10 years ago.

"There were some who realized that information transparency and all the things that came along with customer expectations were going to have a commoditizing effect on them. What did they do? They tried to cost-cut their way to that environment," he says. "There were others who made investments in the last 10 years on experience. They realized that every touch point with their product or service was one that defined them and allowed them to get a higher price point and enjoy greater retention."

None of this rise in healthcare consumerism should be a source of trepidation if providers understand the motivation and values behind it. For the most part those motivations are based on common sense which means they can be easily understood and implemented by staff.

"The reality is the providers who move quickly and focus on experiential drivers will not suffer what we expect to be a much greater of churn in the healthcare industry," D'Alessandro says. "Those who don't move quickly will end up facing a consumer who will vote with their feet."

John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.

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