healthcare technology

If there’s one dialogue that’s been growing louder across the healthcare landscape, it’s the consumerization of healthcare. Market trends are undeniably steering the healthcare experience into a new paradigm where patients are seizing control. Yet this new direction is not always beneficial for patients or providers.

Just as consumer-driven industries like Uber and Netflix offer quick and seamless digital transactions, many patients want greater convenience and speed from care delivery. Many are also seeking more cost-effective options, thanks to climbing medical debt and high-deductible insurance plans. They’re less willing to tolerate care delays and inefficiencies; many will leave a poor online review after a frustrating appointment.

These are all understandable goals and reactions. But as patients climb into the driver’s seat of healthcare, they’re not always given a roadmap to their intended destination. As they navigate their options, some are running up against four dynamics:

1. Dr. Google

In our fast-paced world, many patients don’t want to wait weeks for an appointment or take time off from work to bring their child to the pediatrician.

Instead they take out their smartphone and look up symptoms to get a quick and theoretical diagnosis. Patients can view photographs of lesions, read checklists of cancer symptoms and lurk on forums where people describe surgery experiences – and encourage each other to self-diagnose.

2. Retail Clinics

Retail clinics like CVS and Walgreens have exploded in popularity – and the market is expected to surpass $8 billion USD by 2028. Patients who feel they’re too busy or too peripatetic to maintain a consistent PCP relationship often prefer the extended hours and easy access of these clinics.

3. Cost Avoidance

Patients are paying higher and higher coinsurances, deductibles and copays – and they’re sick of it.

They’re annoyed by a hospital’s inability to give them an accurate procedure cost in advance; many are stuck with “surprise” invoices after checking into a network hospital and receiving care from an out-of-network doctor.

4. Application Chaos

As applications and portals take over the Internet, many healthcare systems have turned a great idea into patient confusion.

Even patients with moderate care needs may find themselves managing an overwhelming collection of healthcare apps for their OB/GYN practice, dentist, dermatologist, PCP, various hospital online payment portals, lab result repositories and data from their wearables.