The age of consumer healthcare is here, and the power within the industry is shifting. After decades of taking the back seat, the consumer is finally pushing back in the face of increasing costs, a lack of transparency and communication, and ever-narrowing networks with limited choices. Coupled with new forms of digital opportunities, she now “owns her health” and is proactively looking for solutions that are better-catered to her interests and well-being.
She’s forcing brands to compete for her business.
As a consumer, healthcare is ripe for positive disruption — a transformation she has gotten used to in other parts of her life. But as a health system, provider, pharma or payer, I now have to evolve to meet changing expectations, help empower this new consumer, and stand out as the right choice. This requires a fundamental change in thinking, operations, and execution.
Refine Your Strategy
One of the biggest benefits of the 21st century is the nature and scope of data we can collect. We can achieve a universal understanding of the consumer through data that reveals what they want, how they feel, and how they behave and interact in a consumer environment. This information is a goldmine for brands that use it correctly.
Consumer insights and analytics can be harnessed to craft data-driven predictive models. These models can enhance strategy in all its forms, from perfecting products and services to developing long-term business plans. This information can also help craft omni-channel marketing strategies that ensure that target audiences interact with your efforts.
Engagement Is Not an Option
This generation of healthcare consumers is resourceful and digitally savvy. The instant-gratification nature of the Internet has made a world of information available at our fingertips (literally), whenever we want. For healthcare brands, this translates as a need to be available, helpful, and reliable.
Engaging your patient isn’t just calling her to confirm an appointment. Engagement should be “always-on”: putting your customer first by anticipating her needs, using her preferred methods and channels of communication, and catering to her uniquely. Providers should be leading inter-visit conversations that are based on her behavior and responsive to her progress.
Preparing for the Future of Healthcare
The age of healthcare consumerism has only just begun. Within the next decade, the industry will experience some radical, fundamental shifts in the way we do business with each other and with our consumers. Is your brand equipped to break through the healthcare haze?
