Patients are becoming more proactive about their healthcare choices
Burdened with more medical costs, patients have begun to demand a greater role in the decisions that affect their healthcare. The development of the Internet and online healthcare information has enabled patients to take a more active role in their health management.
The expansion of disease management programs is one area that reflects the patients’ changing role in the US healthcare system. Datamonitor research shows that 51% of surveyed consumers would like to enroll in a disease management program offered through their health plan.
The patient’s developing role as a consumer has also brought change to the way they interact with their doctors, making this patient-physician relationship less authoritarian and more collaborative. Consequently, the consumer has a greater opportunity to influence the development of the healthcare industry.
Datamonitor research shows that overall most consumers have asked their physician about a specific drug because of something they have read online. Consumers are increasingly interested in Personal Health Records (PHRs) and Electronic Health Records (EHRs), although adoption remains low.
With the healthcare market set to become more consumer-driven, stakeholders in the industry must adjust their marketing strategies and product offerings. Just as pharmaceutical companies, once primarily focused on targeting physicians, have been balancing marketing budgets for both physician-facing and consumer-facing campaigns, health plans must now shift their product offerings towards consumer-focused incentives. By facilitating the patient-physician relationship on the patient’s side, different stakeholders hope to address some of the challenges currently facing the healthcare industry.
Although these new technologies and marketing approaches have not yet been universally adopted, overall healthcare providers and payers seem to be responding positively to the development of patients as important stakeholders in the industry. Time will tell how much of an impact these changes will have on the overall healthcare system.
