Being A Doctor Is Highly Prestigious. A Politician? Don’t Ask.
The most prestigious occupation in America is being a doctor, agreed by 90% of U.S. adults. 90% of them would also encourage their child to pursue a career in medicine. Politician? 70% of parents would discourage a child from pursuing that career path, according to The Harris Poll’s survey on occupational prestige. The top-prestige professions are: Doctor, agreed by 90% Scientist, 83% Firefighter, 80% Military officer, 78% Engineer, 76% Nurse, 76% Architect, 72% Emergency medical tech, 72% Veterinarian, 71% Police office, 67%% Teacher, 65% Entrepreneur, 65% Chef, 62% Athlete, 62% Lawyer, 62% Musician, 61%. All other professions fell below 60%
People Want Healthcare Sherpas
8 in 10 Americans would like one trusted person to help them figure out their health care, according to the Accolade Consumer Healthcare Experience Index Poll, conducted by The Harris Poll. The study gauged how Americans feel about their healthcare, especially focusing on employer-sponsored health insurance. One-third of people (32%) aren’t comfortable with navigating medical benefits and the healthcare system; a roughly percentage of people aren’t comfortable with their personal knowledge to make financial investments, either (35%). Buying a car, a home, technology and electronics? Consumers are much more comfortable shopping for these things. Consumers say that the most onerous
The Patient-Physician Experience Gap
As patients continue to grow health consumer muscles, their ability to vote with their feet for health care services and products grows. That’s why it’s crucial for health care providers to understand how patients perceive their quality and service levels, explained in Patient Experience: It’s Time to Rethink the Consumer Healthcare Journey, a survey report from GE Healthcare Camden Group and Prophet, a brand and marketing consultancy. 3 in 4 frequent healthcare consumers say they are frustrated with their services. One-half of less-frequent patients are frustrated. Patients and physicians are on different pages when it comes to evaluating the health care
Better Aging Through Technology
There are 85 million people getting older in America, all mindfully working to not go gentle into their good nights — that is, working hard to stay young and well for as long as they can. This is the market for “active aging” technology products, which will be worth nearly $43 billion in 2020, according to a report from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the Active Aging Study. CTA and Parks Associates define the active aging technology market in three segments with several categories under each: Safety and smart living, which includes safety monitoring, emergency response (PERS), smart living, and home
Consumers’ Growing Use of New Retail Health “Doors”
In the growing era of consumer-driven health, a growing list of options for receiving care are available to consumers. And people are liking new-new sites of care that are more convenient, cheaper, price-transparent, and digitally-enabled. Think of these new-new sites as “new front doors,” according to Oliver Wyman in their report, The New Front Door to Healthcare is Here. The traditional “doors” to primary and urgent care have been the doctor’s office, hospital ambulatory clinics, and the emergency room. Today, the growing locations for retail clinics and urgent care centers are giving consumers more visible and convenient choices for seeking
What Retail Financial Services Can Teach Healthcare
“Banks and insurance companies that cannot keep pace will find their customers, busy pursuing flawless service models and smart solutions, have moved on without them and they are stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide — from which there will be no return,” according to a report on The Future of Retail Financial Services from Cognizant, Marketforce, and Pegasystems. You could substitute “healthcare providers” for “banks and insurance companies,” because traditional health industry stakeholders are equally behind the consumer demand for digital convenience. This report has important insights relevant to health providers, health plans and suppliers (especially for
The Rise and Rise of (Specialty) Prescription Drug Prices
Prices for the most commonly used branded prescription drugs grew from a base index of $100 in 2008 to to $264 in 2015, based on the Express Scripts 2015 Drug Trend Report. This is illustrated by the upwardly-sloping blue line in the chart. In contrast, the market basket of the most commonly used generic drugs fell from the $100 index in 2008 to $29.73, shown by the declining black line in the graph. The $112.05 is calculated from a market basket of commonly purchased household goods which cost $100 in 2008, a relatively flat line which puts the 264% rise in
The Growth of Digital Patient Engagement
9 in 10 people in the U.S. use some form of digital technology or electronic tools for health management, Accenture found in the company’s 2016 Consumer Survey on Patient Engagement. Younger people (18-34) tend to favor wearable technology, apps and social media for health. More older people (age 65-74) mine electronic health records (EHRs) for personal health data and more likely use tech for remote consultations with care providers. Overall, the percent of U.S. consumers accessing their EHR data grew by over 50% between 2014 and 2016, from 27% to 45% of people doing so, with older people indexing higher
The Link Between Eating and Financial Health
People who more consistently track their calories and food intake are more likely to be fiscally fit than people who do not, suggesting a link between healthy eating and financially wellness. I learned this through a survey conducted in February 2016 among 4,118 people using the Lose It! mobile app, which enables people to track their daily nutrition. Some 25 million people have downloaded Lose It! The app is one of the most consistently-used mobile health tools available in app stores. The Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences has explored the financial impact of improved health behaviors, asserting that,
Digital Food
When I say “Fitbit,” you may think, “digital health.” When I mention “Gatorade,” “Nestle,” and “Dannon,” you might think, “drink,” “chocolate,” and “yogurt.” But soon, the phrase “digital health” will come to mind. That’s because a growing list of food manufacturers is looking to digital technologies to bake (or cook, blend, or mix) health into their value propositions. “Gatorade Taps Into Tech-Thirsty Consumers” is an article published in today’s Wall Street Journal, page B1 in the Business & Tech section of the newspaper. Mike Estrel writes that Gatorade is going high tech, working on a “smart cap” bottle with a microchip
Prescription Drugs Will Exceed 17% of US Healthcare Spending in 2016
Spending on prescription drugs in America in 2015 hit nearly one-half trillion dollars, some 16.7% of national health spending. The latest report on Observations on Trends in Prescription Drug Spending was published this week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). For over a decade in the U.S., the prescription drug component of national health spending was relatively flat, about 10% of overall health costs. In the past couple of years, the proportion of healthcare costs allocated to Rx medications is fast-increasing, as the line chart shows: while
Sleep And Health/Tech – It’s National Sleep Awareness Week
One in three people suffer from some form of insomnia in the U.S. With sleep a major contributor to health and wellness, we recognize it’s National Sleep Awareness Week. As a health economist, I’m well aware of sleep’s role in employee productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism. U.S. companies lose 11.3 days of lost work performance per person who suffers from insomnia, according to research from a Harvard-based team published in the journal Sleep. The cost of this to U.S. business is about $63 billion annually. Science writers at the BBC developed a long list of modern-life issues that deter us from
Being a Woman is a Social Determinant of Health – Happyish International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day. Being a woman is a social determinant of health (for the worse). To mark the occasion of the Day, The International Labour Organization (ILO) published a report on women and work yesterday, finding that in the 178 countries studied, inequality between women and men persists across labor markets. And while there’s been progress in women’s education over the past twenty years, this hasn’t resulted in women advancing career paths and wage equality. It struck me this morning, reading both (paper versions of) the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times that the latter had two FT-sponsored ads marking
Health Consumers’ Use of Apps Is Up, Accenture Finds
One in 3 consumers is using mobile apps for health, doubling from 16% in 2014 to 33% in 2016, according to a survey from Accenture released during HIMSS 2016 conference. The proportion of people donning a wearable device for health more than doubled, from 9% to 21% between 2014-15. Part of this response is due to more physicians asking their patients — consumers — to adopt a wearable to track a health or fitness metric. One in 5 consumers said their doctor “prescribed” the use of a wearable, and 76% of these people followed the doctor’s recommendation. Most consumers and
More Hospitals Connecting for Health: The HIMSS 2016 Connected Health Survey
One in 2 hospitals currently use three or more connected health technologies, according to the 2016 HIMSS Connected Health Survey released today at the annual HIMSS conference. The most commonly used connected health applications cited were: Patient portals, among 58% of providers Apps for patient education and engagement 48% Remote health monitoring, 37% Telehealth via fee-for-service, 34% SMS texting, 33% Patient-generated data, 32% Telehealth via concierge, 26%. 47% of health care providers plan to expand use of connected health technologies, especially for telehealth via concierge, patient-generated data, and SMS texting. HIMSS worked with the Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHA) to
Yin and Yang: Doctors and Patients’ Bipolar Views on EHR Access
Patients are from Mars and Doctors from Venus when it comes to their views on whether consumers should have full access to their electronic health records (EHRs), according to a survey from Accenture released this week at the 2016 meeting of the HIMSS conference in Las Vegas. The vast majority of consumers are keen to access their full EHR, compared to a majority of doctors who advocate for limited access, as the circle diagram dramatically illustrates. The “old days” of patient information asymmetry — with a paper-based folder that got locked up in a health records cabinet — are gone.
Behavioral Economics in Motion: UnitedHealthcare and Qualcomm
What do you get when one of the largest health insurance companies supports the development of a medical-grade activity tracker, enables data to flow through a HIPAA-compliant cloud, and nudges consumers to use the app by baking behavioral economics into the program? You get Motion from UnitedHealthcare, working with Qualcomm Life’s 2net cloud platform, a program announced today during the 2016 HIMSS conference. What’s most salient about this announcement in the context of HIMSS — a technology convention — is that these partners recognize the critical reality that for consumers and their healthcare, it’s not about the technology. It’s about
I'm in amazing company here with other #digitalhealth innovators, thinkers and doers. Thank you to Cristian Cortez Fernandez and Zallud for this recognition; I'm grateful.
Jane was named as a member of the AHIP 2024 Advisory Board, joining some valued colleagues to prepare for the challenges and opportunities facing health plans, systems, and other industry stakeholders. Looking forward to AHIP 2024 in Las Vegas come June 11-13, 2024.
Join Jane at AHIP's annual meeting in Las Vegas: I'll be speaking, moderating a panel, and providing thought leadership on health consumers and bolstering equity, empowerment, and self-care.