9 minute read
Healthcare consumerisation in the
With the advent of digital health, patients would rather track their health at home than visit a doctor
The paradigm slowly gained traction in recent years, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ever-changing landscape of healthcare bears witness to various advancements in
A disruptive force
Healthcare consumerisation is a paradigm wherein patients the technological capabilities of providers. In recent years, the rise of digital health has been visible and the practice of telemedicine has started to gain traction.
This is even compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, where most patients cannot go to hospitals and are therefore being treated at their homes through the use of devices. Telemedicine has become a norm and more patients are also taking control of their health.
Intending to deliver efficient services to patients and sustainability, healthcare providers are riding on this trend, and the patient’s role shifts towards more of a consumer as they demand convenience and ease whilst accessing healthcare services.
However, providers would still have to take huge steps in ensuring a patient-focused experience without sacrificing the quality of services. At the same time, it is worth looking into the paradigm shift that is changing the ways for the industry. demand more control and access to personalised and convenient healthcare services, and where organisations have become compelled to adopt strategies that emphasise care on patient’s terms. This trend is brought upon by market trends and recent public health issues, such as increased access, consumer empowerment, and the rising cost of healthcare, which are effects of technological innovations and which lead patients to seek cost-effective and quick solutions whilst still ensuring quality. For providers, these trends signify the need to expand beyond traditional services and into new care delivery approaches enabled by new virtual care technologies, since the COVID-19 pandemic upended in-person services. Whilst the healthcare industry struggles to provide services in the wake of an overwhelmed system, patients are also less willing to tolerate delays and inefficiencies in healthcare services. Additionally,
there is a growing concern that patients’ desire for convenient services may have an outsized impact on their decision-making when seeking care. As such, non-traditional sectors such as retail, technology, and consumer packaged goods aim to address these needs by including health and wellness initiatives into their products and services. A report by UBS Investment Bank also estimates the global addressable market for consumerisation of healthcare to be approximately $600b in 2019 and is expected to increase at a 5.5% compounded annual growth rate through 2025. Moreover, a 2018 J. Walter Thompson Intelligence APAC study documented a new turning point for the said paradigm. The study looked into how the latest digital technologies are giving people more knowledge and control of their own health, whilst the scope of personal healthcare itself is expanding beyond the clinics and hospitals to increasingly include services to In healthcare improve overall well-being. consumerisation, It has also identified consumer patients demand trends and opportunities for more control brands, both in the traditional and access to health care sector—hospitals, personalised and convenient healthcare services clinics, insurers, pharmaceuticals— and its expanding ecosystem, made up of players in areas such as technology, food, beauty, hospitality, retail, the workplace, and medical tourism. “We are seeing patients acting more and more like consumers— moving from a passive to a more active stance. In tandem, and perhaps in response, the medical world is borrowing from the lifestyle sectors,” Chen May Yee, APAC director of The Innovation Group, and the author of the report said. “New players, particularly tech companies, are starting to disrupt healthcare in the same way they did with retail and logistics: by exploiting inefficiencies.” With data from around 2,500 consumers in the Asia Pacific, the study revealed how local startups and tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent disrupted the healthcare sector across the Asia Pacific in
Consumerisation of healthcare model
Source: UBS Investment Bank
“Taboo” topics, such as mental and sexual health, are now more widely talked about thanks to health services apps and social media
three main ways.
For instance, two-thirds of consumers in the study said they would go to a doctor more oft en if there were not such long wait times. Th e study provided China’s largest online health platform Ping An Good Doctor as an example, wherein it is shortening wait times by connecting patients with a nationwide network of thousands of hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies through its mobile platform.
Ping An Good Doctor has also formed a joint venture with Grab back then to improve access to online medical appointments and medicine delivery.
Meanwhile, Tencent Doctorwork off ers diagnostic services and health trackers on its WeChat app and directs patients to one of its offl ine clinics for treatment. It has also teamed up with Shanghai-based Trusted Doctors to provide what it is calling the largest private medical care network in China, comprising 33 clinics in eight cities.
Th e study also revealed that “taboo” topics, such as mental and sexual health, are now more widely talked about, thanks to apps and social media. Th is was aft er the fact that around half of the respondents said they would go to doctors if it were not for the stigma they face with check-ups.
Moreover, data from the study showed that 76% of the respondents believe that a health app or website could help them be healthier, with 64% saying that they would rather track their health at home than visit a doctor. At the same time, 63% of the respondents said they get excited when they can view health data on their apps.
Lastly, the study showed a slate of startups are using technology to try to solve some of the pain points of traditional insurance, from the hassle of submitting claims to better compliance with wellness programs that can ward off those claims to begin with.
Th is may be due to the fact that only 51% of consumers in the study trust government health insurance, and only 46% trust private insurance to help them stay healthy.
Ultimately, the study went to show how health and wellness off erings are being embedded in the services of lifestyle industries due to the ineffi ciencies of the traditional healthcare sector.
Identifying risks
As the consumerisation of healthcare and the rise of digital health put the power in the hands of the patients, the risk of cutting out traditional intermediaries through new direct-to-consumer health and wellness businesses becomes apparent. At the same time, challenges in providing valuebased care appear together with the greater demand for personalised and individualised services.
As mentioned, many patients are now reluctant to wait weeks for an appointment due to the advent of smartphones. Th ey can now simply do a quick search for symptoms and provide a theoretical diagnosis. Th is is especially dangerous as their real conditions might not get treated or only get worse due to self-diagnosis.
Th e paradigm has also led to the popularity of retail clinics, where patients can easily access healthcare services at their own time. A research by Future Market Insights revealed that by the end of 2028, the global retail clinics market is expected to surpass $8b.
Whilst convenient and quick, retail clinics may compromise patient’s health due to too many one-off visits as their healthcare provider might not understand their medical history.
Moreover, with the technology enabling transparency in procedure costs, patients are treating care as a commodity and are looking for ways to minimise their expenses as compared to
Health organisations are adopting strategies that emphasise care on patients’ terms
before, where hospitals are unable to provide them with accurate costs, leaving many stuck with their options.
With the gradual upward turn of the cost of care, customers are now cautious with what they are paying for.
Although initially commendable, the treatment of healthcare as a consumable can also lead to delaying—or just skipping altogether—medical care.
Th e rise of digital healthcare services also poses risks for data privacy and patient confi dentiality. Health records and information exchanges run the risk of getting breached if security from such providers is not ensured. Data breaches have severe impacts on both patients and providers.
In 2019, Singapore made global headlines when confi dential data of about 14,000 HIV patients were leaked, which prompted the government to launch Healthcare Cloud, a consolidated cloud computing platform that supports over 50,000 healthcare workers across the state.
Accommodating evolving needs of patients
As healthcare services evolve to something more akin to a commodity, the rise of digital health would also need to be maximised to be on the better end of the scale. Businesses that have ridden on the paradigm shift have gained more experiences and satisfi ed patients.
Digital health has accelerated many innovations, including athome visits, telemedicine practices, digital tools for remote monitoring, and various healthcare provider platforms to facilitate medical information transfer.
For instance, the Malaysian Ministry of Health (KKM) has implemented initiatives such as the roll-out and upgrade of the Hospital Integrated System, and the cloud-enabled system known as the Integrated Primary Care System, used for daily operations and real-time data management for primary healthcare at KKM facilities in the country.
Digital innovations also come with challenges that must be taken seriously by country leaders. Healthcare providers can also do some actions to ensure an experience-driven healthcare program for patients.
Firstly, seek feedback from healthcare consumers to gauge their experience, and enhance it to better deliver services. Since they now have more access to information regarding their health and the services, they would want to know the latest information regarding these matters and to provide inputs.
Healthcare providers have the task to listen and to incorporate patient’s perspectives in every off ering as they are slowly gaining power in the medical services that they seek.
Looking into design thinking and user journey
With the consumerisation of healthcare placing the focus on patients, questions on the long-term role of healthcare professionals are starting to pop in. Currently, many healthcare workers are deployed for teleconsultations and other telemedicine practices.
Physicians are critical agents in the design of healthcare journeys and the road to self-served medicine. Th ey can pave the way for streamlining the new ways of providing healthcare services.
Meanwhile, most healthcare marketers have a complete grasp of healthcare professionals, but not of the social context of healthcare consumers. Th is opens doors for other market players to imbibe understanding and provide perspectives in understanding how consumers move in the realm of healthcare services.
Th e role of medical practitioners would not be enough to keep consumers at bay. Insights and frameworks from other industries applied to health (retail, manufacturing, agriculture, auto, food industry, etc.) would be essential as the paradigm is likely to stay in the long run.
The rise of digital healthcare services poses risks for data privacy and patient confi dential ity
Drivers to go for annual checkup
Source: The Well Economy: APAC Edition
