Millennial and Gen Z consumers in the U.S. are paving the way for non-traditional care models, such as retail clinics, virtual and digital services, according to results of an Accenture survey released at HIMSS19.
A survey of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers found striking differences in satisfaction levels between younger and older healthcare consumers, just as millennials in the U.S. become the largest living generation and hold the most power to influence future healthcare models.
When considering traditional in-person care, millennials (ages 22 to 38 in 2019) were two to three times more likely than baby boomers (ages 55 to 73) to be dissatisfied with:
- the convenience of appointment times (16 percent vs. 6 percent)
- the location/channel of care (13 percent vs. 4 percent)
- the effectiveness of the care (12 percent vs. 4 percent)
- whether the doctor prescribed the medication they expected (10 percent vs. 5 percent)
Gen Zers (ages 18 to 21) are even unhappier, with 32 percent dissatisfied with care effectiveness, and 24 percent dissatisfied with the medication prescribed, the location/channel of care, cost of treatment and responsiveness to follow-up questions.
Slightly more than half of Gen Zers and two-thirds of millennials said they have a primary care physician, compared with 84 percent of baby boomers. Without a primary care physician, some millennials are seeking some types of routine medical services from retail clinics (41 percent) and virtual care (39 percent).
These types of non-traditional methods of care have made rapid inroads across all age groups in recent years, with the survey finding that nearly one-third of respondents have used some form of virtual care — up from 21 percent in 2017 — and almost half have used a walk-in/retail clinic. Further, consumers would prefer non-traditional methods over traditional ones for certain basic medical needs, including cold/virus treatment (65 percent vs. 48 percent), flu shots (62 percent vs. 54 percent) and checking vitals (59 percent vs. 54 percent).
The use of digital for self-service healthcare is also on the rise. Half of all respondents said they use a wearable or mobile app to manage their lifestyle and healthcare conditions and more than half use virtual nurses to monitor health conditions, medications and vital signs. Similarly, younger generations are more likely to choose medical providers with strong digital capabilities, such as those who provide mobile or online access to test results (44 percent of millennials vs. 29 percent of baby boomers), electronic prescription refills (42 percent vs. 30 percent), and booking, changing or cancelling appointments online (40 percent vs. 19 percent).
