The millennial generation is driving the consumerization of healthcare. After growing up in the information age, these patients expect immediate answers and require more transparency when it comes to treatment options and costs of care.
"[Patients] are taking ownership of their care decisions, and [demanding] more transparency with regard to pricing and care," said Bob Monteverdi, MD, global healthcare solutions leader at Lenovo Health. "There is more information at their fingertips now than ever before to help them with this, so it is becoming a decision they have to make using their own dollars, all while they take on more of the financial burden with high deductible health plans and health savings accounts."
Millennials are among a growing group of American workers who are enrolled in health plans with a deductible of at least $2,000. In 2018, 26 percent of insured workers have plans with an average deductible of at least $2,000, up from 22 percent of insured workers last year.
As their stake in the cost of care grows, patients are choosing to put their money toward care that is efficient and convenient. In other words, millennials expect greater access to care, and hospitals are turning to technology to create more touchpoints for patient interaction and subsequently, satisfaction.
Patient portals are one way for hospitals to interact with patients both in and outside of the hospital — and patient portal adoption has been widespread. In fact, portal use is highest among patients in their 30s, most of whom are millennials (the generation is defined as ages 22 to 37 in 2018). Millennials boast a 35 percent adoption rate for patient portals, compared to roughly 30 percent adoption across the board.
Hospitals are also turning to other technology — such as telehealth or wearables — to attract the new patient-as-a-consumer. Becker's Hospital Review spoke with Dr. Monteverdi about which tools hospitals are offering to improve their patients' experiences, the IT infrastructure that underlies these solutions and what still needs to evolve in healthcare's age of consumerism.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are some ways healthcare organizations are using technology to enhance the patient experience?
Dr. Bob Monteverdi: Patient portals are really catching on, but so is the concept of bedside tablets that provide more information to patients during their inpatient stays and engage and educate them throughout their treatment. Outside the hospital walls, the use of virtual healthcare — or telehealth — is continuing to grow. Telehealth will become even more popular as more and more health plans move to reimburse these services. Offering telehealth is becoming a necessity, given patients' desire to seek care outside the walls of a hospital in a more virtual, remote environment. The need for additional modes of care delivery is compounded by the physician shortage and limited care options for people in rural areas.
Within the hospital, organizations are turning toward relatively simple solutions that help dramatically, like wayfinding and digital signage to help patients make their way through what are becoming larger and larger facilities. If a patient walks in the front door and they don't know which way to go, something as simple as an interactive map helps their experience tremendously.
Q: How well does a hospital or health system's IT infrastructure (devices, servers, networking) support the new patient as a consumer?
BM: From a consumer standpoint, this is always an interesting one. Obviously the technology infrastructure is the core to everything the health system provides, but it is invisible to patients. Hospitals provide infrastructure — the vehicle to ensuring information is secured, privacy is maintained, the data is accurate and up to date, and consumers can access their health record to take control of their health. All of this is supported by the hardware, systems and services that lie behind it and no one sees.
Q: EHRs are a cornerstone of a hospital's IT strategy. How are the core EHR systems incorporating this move toward the "consumer-driven patient"?
BM: There is significant movement toward educating, embracing and engaging consumers. The primary ways I have seen hospitals leverage the EHR is with patient portals, which allow patients to book appointments, access educational information from their providers and quickly receive lab results. Also, the major EHR vendors are increasingly partnering with companies like Lenovo to ensure device compatibility and that the clinical information they are providing to patients is secure and readily accessible in real-time.
Q: What still needs to evolve to support a consumer-driven environment in healthcare?
BM: Technology evolution is moving at a dramatically quick speed. Consider patient portals at a very basic level: Theses allow for patient access, which is great, but advancements in interoperability would be extremely helpful so patients don't need multiple portals to access their health information from different health institutions. Healthcare also must consider how it is handling its data, using "internet of things" devices, and applying analytics and artificial intelligence.
Healthcare organizations have tons of data, and that data has to meet specific storage requirements, but hospitals must also consider how they use that data. How does a hospital take all that information, apply the analytics or AI to it and get better outcomes? That is the challenge. Hospitals are laser-focused on collecting patient data with the drive to analyze it, but until they have the data in place and know what questions they are trying to answer, it is still a challenge and a work in process.
To access additional information from the summit on advances in care collaboration for improved outcomes, click here.