In yesterday’s WSJ Marketplace section, (also online) there was an article that caught my eye. It talked about how cell phone providers are trying to hold on to the revenue for voice minutes, even though voice usage has dropped over the last few years. While the information on the economics of cell phone plans was interesting, what was more intriguing was the trend data driving the change. One quote in particular was extremely striking:
“People no longer need to call their loved ones for directions or restaurant reviews. They now have Google Maps and Yelp at their fingertips. And texting has become far easier, even with much-bemoaned touch screens, than using the old telephone keypad with multiple letters per button.
All of that has accelerated a shift driven by younger users who have adopted texting and other digital communications tools as their primary way of communicating while restricting calls to a small privileged circle of friends, parents and circumstances.”
When one looks at healthcare, there is a growing disconnect between how patients are required to communicate with their providers and how many communicate with the rest of their world. Currently, the only way most patients can reach a physician is via phone. Even when they support portal communications, practices do not promote utilization even though it could save significant amount of time and money for the practice.
As more and more Millennials begin to make their own healthcare decisions, phone only access will be perceived as an obstacle and a hassle. Currently a few health systems do have portals in place, but most have very limited functionality. For instance my doctor’s health system does have a smartphone ap (good), but if I want to message her with it, the first thing I see is “…expect an answer within two business days” (bad). The smartphone ap does not allow me to make an appointment, or get billing info, although I can do it via computer (not convenient). And forget any urgent situation; I might as well just go to the ER (expensive for both me and my insurance company).
While some of the poor functionality is based on perceived risk management and HIPAA issues, most of it is based on a lack of priority placed on patient communication. There are secure texting and messaging technologies in the marketplace, but adoption rates are very low. Providers need to recognize that a communication shift is well underway, and need to make plans for the integration of the new technologies. As patient experience becomes more of a driver, providers that put roadblocks at the first contact point, either lose the patient or play catch-up for the rest of the encounter. In today’s competitive healthcare environment, ease of contact will go a long way towards ensuring patient loyalty.
