The Gen Y Health Act: Is there an app for that?
by Gerardo Reyes, MBA Candidate
The Millennial Wave
The Millennial generation represents over one fourth of the US population at 83.1 million (Bereau, 2015). As they shift into their prime spending years, their digital nativity experience will greatly influence their consumer decisions. Established healthcare organizations must adapt to this change, to offer services beyond traditional offerings. Millennials reject the outdated structure of today’s healthcare system and expect healthcare organizations to provide them with a portfolio of personalized services, developing “The Consumerization of Healthcare” (Kershner, 2016). In exchange, Millennials are willing to provide healthcare organizations with personal information to better develop these services. It is now up to the healthcare providers to be innovative in integrating data with digital health tools to enhance consumer value and affordability (Pennic, 2015).
Telehealth
How patients and healthcare providers connect is changing with the emergence of mobile telecommunication technologies. Whether in dentistry or emergency care, the concept of telehealth has gained popularity (Hambelton, 2015). Telehealth is a collection of means for enhancing health-related fields using telecommunications technologies (Center for Connected Health Policy), opening up many possibilities. For instance, “MyDigitalMD” allows you to receive consultation and prescriptions via web chat. Becker Hospital Review discovered that 74% of Millennials are interested in incorporating telehealth technologies into their lives, of which 63% believe such technologies would provide better diagnoses (Kathooria, Manisha, 2015). Healthcare organizations must be aware of this to begin developing competitive differentiating technologies.
Mobile Health (mHealth)
According to a 2015 survey conducted by PNC, Millennials are less likely to interact with a physician compared to their predecessors, as it is viewed to be an inconvenience rather than a necessity (Manzetti, 2015). Thus, Millennials are searching for more advantageous healthcare alternatives. For Millennials, smartphones have become a necessity, with Evariant reporting more than 85% of Millennials owning one (Hambelton, 2015). Healthcare organizations can capitalize on this by developing mobile applications that engage Millennials.
Mobile Applications
Millennials desire flexibility when reading online reviews from other patients and booking appointments. Their mobile devices provide them that competency (Hambelton, 2015). The survey results of the recent State of the Connected Patient state that 71% of Millennials expressed interest in receiving a mobile app from a health provider for preventive care (Verel, 2015). As Healthcare organizations become increasingly consumer-oriented, they are seeing this as a potential advantage, with some already exploiting this. “ZocDoc”, which helps find physicians and make appointments, has been downloaded over 300,000 times and is one of the top mobile health applications. This trend will continue to surge with the increase of technological potential and user adoption.
Wearable Technology
With the implementation of fitness-related wearables, Millennials avoid seeing physicians because they’re confident of the results their devices provide. Furthermore, in a survey by the global consultancy Communispace, found that over a quarter of the Millennials surveyed were eager and willing to share health data with employers, & insurers, but only if they see clear value in return (Kramer, 2016). For healthcare organizations, wearable devices can unlock new opportunities in data collection and patient monitoring (Hambelton, 2015).
Why Care?
Corporate Wellness
Although Millennials place an importance on healthy activities such as exercise, they also tend to partake in many seemingly unhealthy activities. Millennials’ insurance costs are low to employers but if they continue with loose health habits, both their health risk and insurance costs will rise (The Fit Life, 2015). For employers, it is more economical to try keeping low risk employees at a low risk threshold than attempt to hire unhealthy employees and hope that their health improves. As stated earlier, Millennials are willing to contribute their data to company cultures that supports healthy workplaces, especially if they can receive an insurance discount (K.G., 2016). Companies should create wellness programs utilizing wearable technology to collect the data received from these devices. In doing so, they can develop a healthy workplace environment providing targeted benefits to lower health risk employees (i.e. Millennials in return for insurance discounts).
They’re here to stay
Millennials hold themselves responsible for their own well-being and are skeptical about spending money on health care services. Healthcare, however, is here to stay, and the participation of Millennials is critical to the medical ecosystem. This has been exemplified in the implementation of The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which relies on the “younger population” to enroll because they usually have lower healthcare expenses. Their monthly premiums essentially subsidize premiums for older less healthy adults. Recently the ACA switched from a fee-for-service to a pay for performance approach, attempting to increase access and quality and reduce costs (Abrams K. Melinda, 2015). Leveraging consumer-generated health data from wearables or mobile apps creates predictive analytics, which can reduce preventative conditions and be less costly to millennials and providers (HIT Consultant, 2016).
Future Competition
Digital startups and entrepreneurs understand the products Millennials demand and how healthcare should operate in the Digital Age. With new applications being developed catering to the consumerization of healthcare, established companies must restructure their business model and incorporate new technological ideas to align themselves with the progressive mentality of a rising Millennial population.