Chronic patients using digital technology to manage their disease feel 'healthier'
CHICAGO — Digitally active chronic patients are satisfied with their health despite the fact they appear to be sicker than those not using technology to help manage their conditions, according to new research findings from Klick Health, Google and the Digital Health Coalition released Thursday.
The #LivingBetter study found that of the 18% of chronic patients who frequently use digital technologies for health reasons, 70% define the state of their health as good, very good or excellent — even though 43% admitted to visiting a hospital emergency room in the last six months, and 32% were hospitalized for at least one night.
In comparison, digitally inactive patients, which represent 35% of those surveyed, said they were in similar health but only 20% of them went to the ER and only 11% were hospitalized over the same time period.
“Digital is playing a huge role in how patients are engaging with their care,” said Peter Flaschner, SVP, client experience at Klick. “Furthermore, it’s enabling patients to proactively manage their conditions which could be impacting their positive outlooks.”
According to the survey:
18% of chronic patients use digital on a daily/weekly basis, 47% use the Internet to search for health information a few times a year or more and 35% don’t use digital for health at all;
Patients are researching their health across the patient journey, notably pre- and post-doctor visits, after therapies have been prescribed and when patients have issues and/or free time;
Like most Americans researching health, chronic patients go to popular online health portals, like WebMD, however they over-index relative to the general population using online forums (38% vs. 20%);
Of the 19% of patients who use mobile for health-related activity, a significant number expressed strong interest in more data-driven, patient-physician interaction - notably, 80% of them are interested in getting health apps from their doctors, 75% would use apps to connect with their doctors and 78% are open to sharing their health data with their doctors. A full two-thirds want to use apps to remind them to take their medicine; and
The ability to connect digitally did not play an influential role in the results — 98% of survey participants said they have accessed the web across multiple devices.
