Hospitals and health systems too slow In responding to consumer demands
According to consumers, health systems are coming up short on digital access, price transparency and affordability of care.
A new report suggests that health care systems and hospitals are not doing enough to promote consumerism, at a time when disruptive new entrants to the market have the tools and experience to speak directly to consumers.
The report by Kaufmann Hall surveyed hospitals and health systems nation-wide. According to the report, 88 percent of U.S. hospital and health system executives said that their organizations are vulnerable to consumer-friendly offerings from new competitors such as Optum, CVS Health, and Amazon. Yet only a small percentage of these organizations were rated highly in meeting consumer demands, and a significant number were falling behind in this rating.
Too dependent on brick and mortar facilities
The report used Kaufman Hall’s consumerism index, which ranks organizations on how well they are meeting consumer expectations. Only 8 percent of organizations were ranked in the highest tier—and the number of groups in the lowest tier is growing.
Related: Quality care isn’t enough to meet the expectations of today’s health care consumers
Part of the problem is the dependence by hospitals and health systems on traditional, physical access points. Many of these organizations have urgent care, outpatient surgery centers, and free-standing diagnostic facilities. But relatively few have invested in the types of services that are seeing rising consumer demand. These include retail clinics and online self-scheduling.
“Many hospitals and health systems remain focused on a brick-and-mortar model of offering consumers access to their providers,” said Dan Clarin, senior vice president of strategic and financial planning at Kaufman Hall. “Consumers are accustomed to the convenience of being able to access the goods and services they need on their smart phones, tablets, and computers. Health care organizations that want to connect with new or potential consumers should adapt their delivery models to remain relevant in an increasingly digital environment.”
Talk about consumerism, not enough action
The survey also found that 81 percent of executives said that “improving the customer experience” is a high priority for their organizations. But only 11 percent had actually put best-in-class consumer-oriented strategies in place. The report also said consumer demand for digital capabilities from health facilities is not being met. For example, 66 percent of organizations said they provided limited-to-no opportunities for real-time patient feedback, while half offered no real-time updates on clinic wait times, and 38 percent offer those updates only on a limited basis.
“As consumers continue to gain greater digital access to information and services in other areas of their lives, they expect the same of their health care experience,” said Clarin. “Providers must introduce digital best practices as part of their overall customer experience strategies, and begin to think in terms of ‘delighting’ rather than merely ‘satisfying’ consumers going forward. Doing so will require substantial investments in infrastructure and training.”
The survey also found limited action in addressing concerns about consumers regarding price transparency and affordability of care. For example, 28 percent of organizations said providing price transparency was a high priority—but only 4 percent said they had high capabilities of providing price transparency.
Suggested strategies
Kaufman Hall’s report included some guidelines for health care organizations in how to reach today’s consumers. The report suggests:
- Start with how best to serve consumer needs, rather than asking “how many facilities do we need?” or “which real estate should we purchase?”
- Identify new growth-oriented metrics to determine access success, such as new unique patients captured.
- Provide multiple options across physical, virtual, and convenience dimensions for consumers to access your system—consumers are not homogeneous in their preferences and needs.
The report warned that new entrants to the health care market place will be eager to build on consumerism lessons that companies such as Amazon have learned.
“The industry’s historically slow, measured pace of change is working against legacy organizations, causing them to fall further and further behind in a race where the competitors already have significant advantages of greater agility, flexibility, and resources,” the report notes. “Organizations need to rethink their overall delivery model, and look for opportunities to meet consumer needs and expectations head-on.”
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