The current global pandemic has transformed the healthcare industry course! However, even before that, the care delivery status quo was getting highly unsustainable. And out of an urgent requirement, several of the modifications long expected for the domain came rapidly and in an intensified form beyond expectation, as a response to the pandemic. It includes the move towards telehealth. There is still some time left before concluding which changes will stay permanent.
Views by Benjamin Gordon Palm Beach
The following three trends will keep on impacting and shaping the healthcare world’s future in a post-pandemic era. The trends are:
Brand loyalty dims as healthcare customers choose provider relationships and convenience Customer loyalty is something that the healthcare system wants to gain as it is a massive driver of profits. However, several companies struggle to attain it, as the customer’s indifference to brands has increased. In a 2020 survey, about 36% of the customers state “no preference” for any specific healthcare brand when compared against the independent practitioners. It is a 5% growth from 2018. And one can say that, that the pandemic has magnified this trend, as about 45% of the customers share that they have shifted to another medical brand, and 62% are on the verge of making the shift before COVID-19 ends. Despite these numbers, healthcare organizations have good news to count on. They already have what they require to get the customer’s trust back.
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Customers are less proactively involved in their health
Before the pandemic outbreak, the care deferment ratio was dropping! However, according to the latest data available, close to 29% of U.S children and 36% of non-elderly U.S adults have deferred or delayed their healthcare because of the threat of COVID-19 exposure. The other reason could be the providers got compelled to restrict their service in the pandemic. Deferring care throws open the scope for repercussions, which negatively influence the short-run clinic and hospital revenue streams. In addition, there can be other far-reaching serious results for healthcare customers in the long run.
Patients continue to prefer online channels
Apart from the increase in telehealth, the customers have expressed a growing interest in using online channels to seek healthcare data and manage their wellness and health. However, such innovations are still slightly underutilized by several medical providers.
You can consider wearable technology! Today, over 100 million people own an Apple Watch. And since the year 2010, Fitbit has successfully sold over 105 million devices. Such tools are ubiquitous in daily life. However, it means sharing essential health data points. And the significant chunk of providers hasn’t completely realized how to tap this data in a care setting.
That is not all! According to Benjamin Gordon Palm Beach, even social networks have become a crucial health resource for the customers and not only for the millennials. Based on a study conducted by the Journal of Medical Internet Research, adults beyond 67 years and close to 90% of the baby boomers have used social media to get and share health data.
These are the three crucial trends that will emerge strongly in the healthcare domain in the post-COVID-19 world.