Who is Generation C and how will healthcare adapt to meet their expectations? – MedCity News

While the term Gen C was first introduced circa 2012 by futurist Brian Solis as a way of describing a generation of connected consumers defined not by their age, geography, or income but by their hyper-connected, mobile-first mentality, its increasingly being used to describe post-pandemic-born babies. Its also been applied to the mindset and expectations of consumers in the wake of the pandemic.

More recently, it has been used to label kids coming of age during the pandemic and how their expectations and experiences are different from ours.

But Id argue that the pandemic has changed all of us. People have seen whats possible by way of such pandemic-spawned conveniences as virtual visits, online scheduling, digital sharing of records and texting, while providers have seen more clearly than ever that convenience is the new currency.

In the broadest sense, were all Gen C now (Generation Covid). Our expectations of how we experience healthcare have been irrevocably altered, the differences only being ones of degree across demographics.

Last fall, a national survey of patients and providers (The State of Patient Access Survey 1.0) conducted by Experian Health found that more patients were able to schedule appointments through patient portals, complete preregistration tasks online, make payments from mobile devices and even have initial consultations with clinicians through telehealth.

Somewhat surprisingly, however, the survey also revealed that while some had been hesitant to use self-service technology prior to the pandemic, they were relieved during the first half of it that they were able to access healthcare from the safety of their own home. Whats more, consumers were used to using online interaction and wondered why healthcare couldnt offer the same level of convenience, autonomy, and security that they otherwise enjoy in their other online activities.

Providers appear to be taking note. In a follow-up survey this past summer, 93% of providers said improving the patient experience is a top priority, up slightly from 90% in 2020. More than 8 out of 10 providers say their patients prefer an online registration experience, compared to 6 in 10 last year, and more providers are offering online and mobile scheduling. A growing majority are planning to invest further in patient intake capabilities because of the pandemic. Interestingly, the number of providers who dont plan to offer self-scheduling has also risen, from 8% to 29%, suggesting that they may already have such systems in place or are focusing on different priorities.

Lets dissect what adapting to Generation Cs engagement expectations means.

Patients are ready for more engagement

Just like consumers have embraced unlimited access to online shopping from the convenience of their homes and smartphones, the arrival of the pandemic sped up healthcares adoption of similar digital access for scheduling appointments. It also elevated patient expectations for this type of access and convenience, paving the way for alternative or emergent service providers, like pharmacies, to enter the market of digital access for patients.

Its known in the consumer world that people are very unlikely to give up benefits once theyve enjoyed them. Its fair to expect that a significant majority of patients will never return to the old days of calling doctors offices and patiently waiting on hold to schedule appointments.

At least 18% of patients we surveyed cited the ability to see a practitioner quickly as their top challenge, registering a nearly 20% increase in that sentiment over November 2020. While a doctors availability is limited by the laws of physics, there are innovative ways to use technology to speed or otherwise improve patient assessment experiences and our survey found that patients are amendable to them. The findings indicated that theyre ready for more as well.

It may not be surprising that expanded telehealth services continue to significantly reduce patients difficulty in scheduling interactions, staying almost constant at nearly half of survey responses, and there was almost a 20% increase in use of online/mobile scheduling. Health app usage varies by age group, with 3345-year-olds a whopping 80% more likely to use them than other demographics.

How will healthcare adapt?Providers are responding to some of these expectations from Generation C while facing opportunities for improvement and competitive differentiation on others. There are four broad areas in which these insights are most notable:

The pandemic forever changed the way we think about and access healthcare and will in large part dictate the paths our care journeys follow in the coming years. For the younger demographic of patients who are only now at the age where they will handle their own healthcare, what has been an evolution or revelation for the rest of us will be the status quo.

This means digital transformation really isnt a new phenomenon anymore; this dynamic is not something that gets done apart from or in parallel with providers other work and responsibilities. Digital innovations play a role in every aspect of patient engagement and will eventually play the central role in how patients interact with their healthcare.

Its key to everything because were all Generation C now.

Photo: phototechno, Getty Images

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Who is Generation C and how will healthcare adapt to meet their expectations? - MedCity News