The consumer’s changing nature
Putting patient experience first
Globally, consumerism in healthcare is growing at different cadences and for different reasons. In some countries, especially in developing markets, the drivers are increased cost-sharing and the desire for a better overall experience. In others, the demand for greater access to care and better outcomes is fuelling the trend.
Implications
Choose the data cure for customer experience. Create different strategies to revamp the customer experience by using or becoming data hubs or aggregators, commercializing your own insights, and pursuing direct data partnerships. Data hubs can be created by aggregating data from wearables, electronic health records, and monitoring and screening data so that the information can be shared across care and support settings. Data aggregators can house data sets from multiple sources and provide de-identified data sets that can offer insights for healthcare stakeholders while sidestepping grassroots collection. To commercialize insights, invest in proprietary data and tools to generate them, and sell them to other industry players, such as insurers with strong analytic abilities that are diversifying into nonregulated lines of business.
Make customer experience second nature for staff. The appropriate tools and training can reduce the time employees spend looking for and reviewing data, giving them more time for meaningful interactions with consumers. Invest in digital platforms and automation, such as a patient education system, to help patients be more active in their care and reduce the burden on nurses. Also invest in systems with protocols to promote information-sharing between physicians and patients.
Unwire the experience. Give consumers what they value, through convenient locations and hours, the chance to see a provider quickly and the choice of low-cost care options. Digital technologies such as telemedicine, Wi-Fi-enabled scales, mobile health apps for chronic disease monitoring, and wireless biometric sensors mean that the care experience is no longer tied to the physician’s office. Select digital solutions to complement—not replace—human interaction.
Call to action for policymakers and regulators
Make consumer-centered care the new norm. Recognise its financial and population health benefits, and develop policies that give priority to the consumer. Encourage organisations to participate by creating new initiatives based on the five pillars of customer experience, reimburse for those services, and rate healthcare providers and payers on those features.
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