How are Digital Tools Helping Healthcare Consumers?

The reliance on digital tools dramatically transformed the healthcare landscape in 2022. New features were introduced, and Telehealth became the norm after the pandemic illustrated the necessity and benefits of using convenient digital systems. Our studies have found that more dependence on digital features can improve the customer experience, and create efficiencies for healthcare providers, which in turn leads to higher customer satisfaction scores. As we head into the New Year it’s important for providers to learn how consumers view their digital channel performance, and what improvements can be focused on to provide an even better experience moving forward. 

Commercial Member Health Plan Digital Trends 

After making leaps and bounds of progress with members over the past several years, the 2022 Commercial Member Health Plan Study reveals a trend of decreased satisfaction. Only 22% of members describe their plan as being "innovative", a number that has remained relatively consistent over the past three years. What happened? Members were excited by the progression of digital channels offered by their plans. Engagement, however, has plateaued, revealing that while these features are being utilized, satisfaction with digital channels is declining as members are reporting a lack of improvement and innovation. Declines were observed across: 

• Messaging support (-14 points) 
• Website (-6 points)
• Mobile apps (-6 points)

To boost satisfaction, health plans should focus resources on innovation within their current offerings or developing new features to encourage member engagement. When building out future digital strategies, providers should ensure that refinements to the website, mobile app experience, and texting application tools are based on member engagement needs.

Medicare Advantage Digital Trends 

The 2022 Medicare Advantage Study revealed that increased digital usage and satisfaction go hand-in-hand for Medicare Advantage members. Overall satisfaction scores were 72 points higher (823) when members registered and logged in to their provider’s portal than when they did neither activity (751). However, there are two core issues that are reducing satisfaction among members.

1. Members are expressing interest in using new tools to support their care, but plans are slow to adapt.
2. As services increasingly go digital, the usage among seniors remains an ongoing effort, revealing many older members are missing out.  

Looking ahead, Medicare plan providers need to strategize ways to promote their digital offerings while also educating their core market of seniors on how to use and fully benefit from these tools. In addition, when building digital engagement strategies, providers should look outside of the healthcare industry to identify and incorporate digital experience innovations. 

Pharmacy Digital Trends

The 2022 U.S. Pharmacy Study revealed a higher dependency on apps. Not only did overall satisfaction increase exponentially for customers who used their pharmacy’s mobile app six or more times in the past twelve months, but frequent app use revealed less likelihood of switching pharmacy providers.  

An area of opportunity for Mail Order pharmacies is the lack of consistent service. To build loyalty, pharmacies can rely on the success of digital tools to provide reliable service to customers, such as increased updates via texting. Overall Mail Order Pharmacy Satisfaction improved by 52 index points when 3 or more texts were received (728) compared to just one text (676). 

The patterns of increased app usage and loyalty also appear for Brick and Mortar Customers. Those who used their app 6 or more times had a higher Overall Satisfaction Index score than those who only used their app 1 to 5 times. Currently, pharmacy apps are seeing higher popularity among younger generations revealing an opportunity for Brick and Mortar to demonstrate the benefits of these tools to older customers to increase their satisfaction.  

Telehealth Services Digital Trends 

The 2022 U.S. Telehealth Satisfaction Study finds that consumers are largely embracing Telehealth, the ability to meet virtually with healthcare providers, for greater access, convenience, and avoidance of exposure to illness. In addition, Telehealth services are beginning to expand into new specialties and provide patients with access to care where provider shortages might otherwise exist. 

However, there are still many opportunities to improve this digital interaction channel. Telehealth declined 7 pts from 2021. Users who relied on Telehealth services before the pandemic reported higher rates of satisfaction than those who did not, suggesting familiarity may have played a key role in user expectations. As more patients rely on this tool for maintenance care, many new and existing patients express frustration on three consistent issues: 

• Limited services provided (especially mental health services)
• Confusing technology requirements
• Lack of provider information

Although patients are largely satisfied with this digital service, these performance gaps remain opportunities for targeted user experience improvement.

Conclusion

Consumers are excited by the digital advances made this year but want to see providers continue to revolutionize and keep up with digitalization in the market. Although significant improvements have been made there is a long way to go to keep up with customer expectations. Plan providers need to focus on consumer-centric innovation and educational strategies to ensure usage and satisfaction among new and existing members.