Retail holds key to understanding digital expectations for healthcare
April 23, 2018
By Alan Hughes, President of Healthcare and Life Sciences, NTT DATA Services
The retail sector caters to customers’ evolving digital wants and needs to create an enhanced experience that has now become an expectation rather than a luxury. Its focus on the digital dynamics between buyers and sellers has transcended the way consumers traditionally make purchasing decisions. As a result, today’s consumers are demanding digital experiences that reflect the ones they’re accustomed to from retailers.
What should healthcare companies do to meet this new demand?
Act like retailers.
According to recent research by NTT DATA Services, U.S. healthcare consumers want simple and reliable digital interactions for routine transactions, such as making doctor appointments. In fact, 59 percent of U.S. consumers expect their healthcare digital customer experience (DCX) to be similar to retail.
Additionally, consumers want their digital experience with healthcare payers and providers to more closely mirror interactions with major online retailers, such as Amazon, Apple and Southwest Airlines. As out-of-pocket patient costs continue to rise, consumers expect easy access to options for healthcare, even going so far as to analyze the cost differences of healthcare the way they would scrutinize competing products while online shopping.
The good news for healthcare providers is that they can model their digital initiatives on an industry that has already figured it out.
While patients and providers don’t always see eye to eye on what constitutes value in healthcare, this gap provides an opportunity for healthcare providers and payers to deliver digitized patient-centered services that exceed expectations.
As patients seek seamless care to bring together services related to diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and health promotion, the healthcare industry is ripe for a digital transformation.
Patient preferences and age demographics will continue to increase the emphasis healthcare organizations place on DCX. According to the research findings, there is a cohort of more tech-savvy consumers called “Explorers” who represent the future of the healthcare industry.
More than 75 percent of Explorers agreed that healthcare DCX needs to improve, and 50 percent would leave their current doctor for a better digital experience. While this group is demanding and impatient, it represents future consumer expectations and is the driving force behind the healthcare industry’s motivation to evolve.
But for an industry that has been traditionally dependent on in-person interactions, where do they begin? According to the research findings, it starts online.
The research notes 69 percent of respondents expect their health insurance company to make it simpler to evaluate affordable care and wellness options, yet 62 percent say current platforms do not accomplish these goals.
Additionally, 42 percent of respondents claim when providers and insurance carriers offer various options, the solutions are not relevant. Add that to the 40 percent who say these digitized processes take too much time to complete, and you have a recipe for failure. Consumers continue to desire digital experiences that are fast and easy, yet mobile healthcare lacks ease of use and divergent features.
Just like retail’s digital transformation, healthcare needs to follow suit. Consumers want to make appointments, access test results, pay bills and fill prescriptions – all with the click of a button. And as soon as healthcare organizations add and fine tune these capabilities to their digital platforms, the quicker they’ll improve the patient experience.
The importance of DCX on healthcare decisions will continue to increase at a rapid rate. Providers, payers and pharmacies taking heed of this trend will be better positioned to meet patient expectations and emerge as healthcare institutions of choice for the foreseeable future.
About the author: Alan Hughes, president of Healthcare and Life Sciences at NTT DATA Services, is president of the global Healthcare and Life Sciences practice. As head of the company’s largest industry segment, Alan is responsible for leading the growth, profitability and transformation of the global healthcare business. Alan has 30 years of leadership experience specializing in enterprise strategy development and execution, information technology, business operations and building high-performance teams to drive results in the healthcare and financial industries.
The retail sector caters to customers’ evolving digital wants and needs to create an enhanced experience that has now become an expectation rather than a luxury. Its focus on the digital dynamics between buyers and sellers has transcended the way consumers traditionally make purchasing decisions. As a result, today’s consumers are demanding digital experiences that reflect the ones they’re accustomed to from retailers.
What should healthcare companies do to meet this new demand?
Act like retailers.
According to recent research by NTT DATA Services, U.S. healthcare consumers want simple and reliable digital interactions for routine transactions, such as making doctor appointments. In fact, 59 percent of U.S. consumers expect their healthcare digital customer experience (DCX) to be similar to retail.
Additionally, consumers want their digital experience with healthcare payers and providers to more closely mirror interactions with major online retailers, such as Amazon, Apple and Southwest Airlines. As out-of-pocket patient costs continue to rise, consumers expect easy access to options for healthcare, even going so far as to analyze the cost differences of healthcare the way they would scrutinize competing products while online shopping.
The good news for healthcare providers is that they can model their digital initiatives on an industry that has already figured it out.
While patients and providers don’t always see eye to eye on what constitutes value in healthcare, this gap provides an opportunity for healthcare providers and payers to deliver digitized patient-centered services that exceed expectations.
As patients seek seamless care to bring together services related to diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and health promotion, the healthcare industry is ripe for a digital transformation.
Patient preferences and age demographics will continue to increase the emphasis healthcare organizations place on DCX. According to the research findings, there is a cohort of more tech-savvy consumers called “Explorers” who represent the future of the healthcare industry.
More than 75 percent of Explorers agreed that healthcare DCX needs to improve, and 50 percent would leave their current doctor for a better digital experience. While this group is demanding and impatient, it represents future consumer expectations and is the driving force behind the healthcare industry’s motivation to evolve.
But for an industry that has been traditionally dependent on in-person interactions, where do they begin? According to the research findings, it starts online.
The research notes 69 percent of respondents expect their health insurance company to make it simpler to evaluate affordable care and wellness options, yet 62 percent say current platforms do not accomplish these goals.
Additionally, 42 percent of respondents claim when providers and insurance carriers offer various options, the solutions are not relevant. Add that to the 40 percent who say these digitized processes take too much time to complete, and you have a recipe for failure. Consumers continue to desire digital experiences that are fast and easy, yet mobile healthcare lacks ease of use and divergent features.
Just like retail’s digital transformation, healthcare needs to follow suit. Consumers want to make appointments, access test results, pay bills and fill prescriptions – all with the click of a button. And as soon as healthcare organizations add and fine tune these capabilities to their digital platforms, the quicker they’ll improve the patient experience.
The importance of DCX on healthcare decisions will continue to increase at a rapid rate. Providers, payers and pharmacies taking heed of this trend will be better positioned to meet patient expectations and emerge as healthcare institutions of choice for the foreseeable future.
Alan Hughes