Frost & Sullivan survey underscores need for patient engagement
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - The majority of Americans are ambivalent when it comes to their healthcare, with 48% identifying as "somewhat engaged" in their healthcare, according to a recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan on patient engagement released Thursday. One-in-five represent themselves as actively engaged and proactive around their healthcare, the report noted, and the same number are not engaged at all.
"Patient or consumer engagement is a huge and growing focus for healthcare organizations of every stripe," noted Nancy Fabozzi, Frost & Sullivan's transformational health principal analyst. "Consumer health engagement and the rise of the new 'culture of health' references broad societal shifts, which are presumably motivating people to take a more proactive role in their health and wellness."
Consumer health engagement is being positioned as the Holy Grail or the "blockbuster drug" enabling businesses to grow and thrive in a radically restructured healthcare system. A variety of stakeholders are coming together to help facilitate individuals towards a greater involvement in their healthcare, especially when it comes to making behavioral changes that positively impact health outcomes.
While the consumer health engagement movement is real, many barriers still exist. Today, a good portion of American society still lacks sufficient interest and motivation needed to truly become engaged with their health, creating numerous challenges for healthcare organizations seeking to increase patient engagement efforts.
However, socioeconomic changes and advances in information technology are increasingly incenting individuals to become more proactive. A growing number of individuals are tracking their health status via electronic personal health records, wearable sensors and in-home monitors. These data will be added to larger repositories of their personal data generated from providers, payers and other organizations. As these data come together and are opened up to individuals, consumers will have the necessary tools to take a more central role in all aspects of their health, including deciding on treatment options as well as selection of health plan packages.
To better benchmark where the American population stands on the road to creating a culture of health, Frost & Sullivan recently conducted a web-based survey of 1,500 U.S. consumers to explore key issues surrounding health preferences, behaviors, attitudes, health IT use as well as areas of frustration and satisfaction.
The Frost & Sullivan survey found that:
50% use paper records to track healthcare status;
82% view conversations with healthcare professionals as the most valuable source of health information;
72% state it was extremely or very important to have access to their own medical records;
The desire to look better, the influence of family members and positive financial changes motivated younger consumers more than older consumers to take actions to improve their health;
62% of younger consumers believe mobile apps to be effective vs. 15% of older consumers; and
Depression or anxiety was second only to hypertension as the most commonly reported chronic health condition.
"To enable the successful evolution of passive patients to proactive health consumers, all healthcare stakeholders must develop ongoing knowledge regarding health-related attitudes, behaviors and motivations among various consumer population segments," Fabozzi said. "This is the foundation from which companies can design customized products, programs and services capable of incenting and rewarding healthy behaviors."