To remain independent and thrive in today’s consumer focused healthcare environment, it is no longer a decision if practices have to embrace change, but rather how quickly they can refocus their practice to optimize their success.
The way you operated your practice pre-pandemic won’t ensure success in the current and future healthcare environment, where consumerism is changing patient behavior. A Deloitte Survey listed cost, convenience, and reputation as the driving decision factors for today’s patients.
Your patients have less time, more choices for where to get care, and higher expectations for convenience that can be very disruptive for healthcare practices. Patients are more willing than ever before to “break-up” with their physicians. According to a 2019 Healthcare Consumer Trends Report, 80% of patients reported that they would switch providers for “convenience factors” alone.
Patients are now consumers. Patients are customers, approaching healthcare with a heightened awareness of how and where they spend their healthcare dollars. More than ever patients are demanding flexible hours, mobile solutions, safety, price transparency, and payment options. Many patients want the bells and whistles that competing providers are offering, and they are increasingly basing their decisions on online reviews, website presence, physician comparison scores, ease of access, and engagement. Just as your patients are reimaging how they want to consume healthcare services, it is worth considering how you can reimagine how to deliver care with patient experience in mind.
Here are some of the trends from research that your practice needs to have on the radar:
- Seventy-two percent of patients search online for medical provider. Seventy-four percent of those patients rely on reviews when looking online to choose a healthcare provider, with 69% saying they will not consider a healthcare provider with an average star rating lower than 4.0 out of 5.(1)
- During the Pandemic, many patients preferred virtual visits over in-person office visits, which is a trend that is here to stay. Sixty percent of all consumers would consider a virtual visit if they had to wait at least a day to see their regular provider in person. Surprisingly as age increases, wait times for in-person visits decreases. Seventy five percent of consumers older than 74 would shift to virtual care if they had to wait two weeks to see their regular provider.(2)
- Patients are looking for a mutli-touch, digitally enabled experience, and they are willing to shop for it. Sixty six percent prefer text messages when receiving medical appointment reminders. Sixty percent preferred digital interactions for scheduling an appointment, filling our registration and other forms, and accessing health records. Fifty percent prefer digital interactions when asking the provider a question.(2)
- Patients are using technology for healthcare monitoring and are wanting to share their data with their physicians. Remote patient monitoring tools assist providers with gathering patient data over time, with technology that organizes and analyzes the data for the provider, making the data actionable. There is an increase in patients wanting more engagement in their preventative care, and RPM tools help them participate, drive better outcomes, and can serve as a new source of revenue for the practice, in an era of dwindling reimbursements.
We know that practices are currently very busy but taking a few minutes to explore the solutions MicroMD offers to position your practice to embrace these changes is worth the investment. Many of you are facing staffing shortages, let us help you leverage MicroMD’s technology and solutions to help ease the burden on your staff and navigate these changing healthcare trends. As your trusted advisor, we want to ensure you are set up for success so your practice can evolve and thrive.
1. 3rdAnnual Perspective Survey Report- Patient Pop
2. Advisory Board Covid-19 Consumer Survey, June 2020
About the author,
Carrie Ambrose
Carrie Ambrose joined the MicroMD team in 2002. Prior to her joining the company, she graduated from Youngstown State University with an Associate’s degree in Medical Assisting and a Bachelor of Science degree in Allied Health Professions. She has over 10 years’ experience in the physician office setting, in which she performed both clinical and administrative/billing duties.
