Though patients are playing a more significant role than ever in managing their own healthcare, this has, somewhat paradoxically, made it more difficult for providers to engage patients with their offerings.

Keri Kaiser is senior vice president of marketing and communications, chief marketing officer and chief experience officer at Children's Health.

Morristown, N.J.-based-based Atlantic Health System recently received two awards for exceptional consumer experience.

Many industry stakeholders have been anticipating the rise of modern consumerism in healthcare for years. According to Change Healthcare's Spencer Cross, director of product management and experience solutions, the wait is over.

In some hospitals, families and caregivers no longer have to wait anxiously for updates while a loved one is in the operating room or intensive care unit, thanks to apps and services that allow clinicians to automatically send updates in text, photo or video format.

Indiana University, Purdue University and University of Notre Dame's research institute will leverage healthcare software company LifeOmic's mobile applications for its clinical research and studies program.

Researchers at Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University have developed an app and algorithm to help patients with type 1 diabetes, according to ABC15.

The landscape of patient experience is adapting rapidly towards digital consumerism and providers are struggling to keep up.

While virtual consultations with primary care providers have been found to be convenient for patients and to reduce unnecessary clinic visits, they typically do so only for young, wealthy and relatively healthy patients.

The vast majority of physicians would like to be more involved in the management of their health systems' online find-a-provider profiles and other digital access services, according to a new Kyruus report.

Amid the growing prevalence of retail clinics, urgent care facilities and direct-to-consumer telemedicine options, hospitals and health systems are still unsure how these convenient care options impact their organizations.

As invigorating as it can be to deploy every state-of-the-art IT solution a hospital can get its hands on, none of those high-tech tools will have any real impact if they are not implemented in an environment that prioritizes patient well-being above all.

Organizations are increasingly shifting toward an outward-facing, customer-focused strategy, and marketing executives are ideally positioned to lead the charge, according to Strategy+Business.

LabCorp, one of the largest clinical laboratory companies in the world, is now giving consumers the option to order their own blood tests online as it positions itself for a major expansion of brick-and-mortar testing sites in Walgreens stores.   

Richard Temple is vice president and CIO of Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Brown Mills, N.J.

Sixty-nine percent of hospital executives consider enhancing the healthcare consumer experience as the first or second most important strategic priority their organization has for this year, according to a recent survey.

John Kravitz is CIO of Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger, a physician-led health system with 13 hospital campuses. The system also includes a 600,000-member health plan and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.

UnitedHealth Group's Optum poses the biggest perceived threat to hospital and health system executives worried about non-hospital competitors that offer consumer-friendly health services, according to Kaufman Hall's 2019 State of Consumerism in Healthcare report.

While most hospitals and health systems see improving consumer experience as a top priority, their efforts in this area remain narrow, according to the latest Kaufman Hall State of Consumerism Survey.

Lance Spranger is the CIO of St. John's Health in Jackson, Wyo.