Virtual primary care: Key to bringing 'well visits' (and mental health support) to Gen Z

Generation Z has never known a world without smartphones, social media, streaming apps, and same-day shipping. Their experience as users and consumers has been defined by speed, convenience, and instant everything, and they are bringing those expectations to health care, too — which more often than not means the urgent care clinic down the street.

The urgent care business is booming, thanks in large part to twentysomethings. Gen Zers visit urgent care clinics at significantly higher rates than older generations, citing the convenience and ease of access. Not coincidentally, they are also far less likely than older generations to have a primary care physician (PCP). Included Health’s new survey of the U.S. workforce found that 32% of Gen Zers don’t have a PCP, compared to 22% of the workforce overall (and just 12% of boomers). For many Gen Zers, urgent care is primary care.

It’s hard to blame them, when an appointment with a PCP can take weeks to schedule, even in big cities. Still, this generational drift away from primary care is a troubling trend.

Gen Zers have unusually high rates of chronic conditions and physical health problems for their age group, and their mental health issues are pervasive and unprecedented. Nearly half of the Gen Zers we surveyed cited mental health as a top concern in their life (vs. just 17% of boomers) that impacts them personally and professionally.

Making matters worse, the difficulty of navigating the health care system means many Gen Zers aren’t getting the care they need. All of the Gen Zers we surveyed have health insurance, but only 21% feel confident they can access therapy or other mental health resources with their current health benefits. And more than 30% have delayed or skipped care due to admin or insurance issues and competing demands at work.

Urgent care can be a useful band-aid for “simple sick” care — especially if the alternative is not getting care at all. But it can’t, and shouldn’t, take the place of primary care.

We need to make primary care accessible, convenient, and relevant for a generation graduating into adulthood and settling into health care habits that will shape their long-term health. Numerous studies — including in young people with mental health issues and chronic medical conditions — have found a sharp decline in the usage of both primary care and mental health care after the age of 18.

Virtual primary care is our best hope for reversing this trend. In contrast to virtual urgent care, which (like the brick-and-mortar version) is designed for everyday ailments, virtual primary care is built around a long-term relationship with a PCP and offers comprehensive care including well visits, preventive care, mental health support, medication management, and referrals to virtual and in-person specialists when needed. It’s everything you’d get from a family doctor, with the critical difference that access to care isn’t dependent on the local supply of providers — or their office hours.

Related: Vitamin retailer GNC enters health market with virtual urgent, primary care

Though Included Health’s data shows that people of all ages embrace virtual primary care, it’s especially appealing to a generation of digital natives who already live in their smartphones. Of the Gen Zers we surveyed who don’t already have a PCP, more than half said the ability to access primary care virtually would make them more likely to establish a relationship with a PCP.

Expanding access to virtual primary care is critically important not just for Gen Zers and their loved ones, but also for their employers, their health insurance companies — for all of us, really. Gen Z is projected to make up 30% of the workforce by 2030. If we don’t give these young people the care they need fast, and a health care experience that meets them where they are, their physical and mental health will continue to suffer, and we’ll all pay the price.

Todd Thames, M.D. is a board-certified family physician and Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Included Health.