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The First Wave of Consumer Health Care

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Anticipating Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors

The first wave of consumer-driven health care has been building slowly. As it accelerates in the next three years, it is necessary to understand where it is likely to rise first and what its impacts will be. Health Care Horizons, a consulting firm in California, conducted both a consumer survey and an expert panel to describe the pace of change in health care consumers.

Here are the areas that health care companies will need to address:

Managing consumer relationships by allowing consumers control. Both new consumers and, in fact, almost all health care consumers, want to be more involved in their health care than before. These consumers will exert their desire for involvement in two ways: by playing a much more active role in their own treatment decisions and by managing and providing their own care.

Maintaining market share by improving choice and customer service. The core relationships that patients have with physicians and insurers have, historically, formed the base of consumers' relationships with the entire health care system. All players in health care will have to work harder to attract and retain a group of increasingly disloyal consumers. To the extent that their benefit designs allow it,people will feel much freer to switch away from plans and providers that don't meet their expectations for coverage, choice, speed, customer service, convenience, and information.

Increasing market share by building brands. As a supply-driven industry, health care has paid little attention to its end-user's experience as a consumer. Health care organizations will have to make much more systematic and strategic use of the power of their brands. Direct-to-consumer marketing, currently on fire in the pharmaceutical industry, will increase in all sectors of health care. More emphasis will be placed on consumer-friendly services, such as support for self-care for the chronically ill, complementary and alternative medicine, and ombudsmen for the health care system.

Providing information to consumers. One way to strengthen relationships with new consumers is to meet their need for more and better information. To the extent that traditional health care players are unsuccessful at meeting those information needs, a new intermediary will arise: information brokers who provide customized, personalized information about health plans, providers, medical procedures, availability of ancillary services, and so on to information-hungry consumers.