The healthcare industry
The healthcare industry has made important progress in terms of improving the overall quality of life, but the advancing technology application introduces a new challenge and opportunity. In the article “The birth of the healthcare consumer: growing demands for choice, engagement, and experience,” Estupinan, Fengler, & Kaura (2014) “argue that most healthcare consumers have expected healthcare industries to operate in the digital market through a user-friendly interface. However, these industries have failed to meet such expectations, which have resulted in dissatisfaction among healthcare consumers. Estupinan and associates believe that most consumers are open to using digital applications and receiving nontraditional treatment.
In the article, the authors provide a comprehensive survey undertaken by an organization with extensive experience in the area. Their interpretation of the data reveals that a lot of youths have expected healthcare industries to consider working through digital platforms. Apparently, more than 50% of consumers, according to the observation made by Estupinan and associates, show a great deal of satisfaction with the experience they have when purchasing insurances on the new digital platforms, which means that most of them prefer their services online. In the survey, 80% of the participants agreed to use digital services to help them manage their healthcare, while only 23% agreed to have access to the necessary online tools.
Patients are constantly seeking quality above everything else; they are in need of the best available care with few mistakes. As Estupinan notes, most older and wealthy consumers are not affected by the variation in price for different medical care services. At the same time, the younger and healthier population considers that price plays a major role in making decisions. While the elderly can trust their providers in making the right healthcare decisions, younger consumers are skeptical and have other alternatives for managing their healthcare, and they have placed a great deal of expectation on their meeting their preferences. Older audiences seem to consider medical excellence, while younger consumers have placed a great deal of emphasis on appearance.
Finally, Estupinan and associates maintain the importance of trust and simplicity for consumers. Most healthcare consumers want their healthcare to be tailored according to their lifestyles. In fact, the authors note that 40% of the consumers would trust retailers such as Target and Walmart or digital giants like Google and Amazon to manage their health, unlike 37% of the consumers who would trust insurers and providers. To recap, healthcare consumers are becoming more and more receptive to digital communication from their healthcare providers. Such changes can cause great disruption for the healthcare industry and highlight thy healthcare industries have to focus on consumers’ choices.