About 47 percent of healthcare executives recently polled during a Bright.md webinar said their biggest concern when it comes to telehealth adoption and patient preferences is educating patients, providers, and staff on what options are available.
The webinar, titled 54 seconds to care: Unpack 6 insights into consumer preferences & more, dove deep into new consumer data trends, all in an effort to better understand and educate the audience on new modes of care delivery.
“Healthcare is confusing for a lot of people—figuring out where to go, how to start, and what you need to do to seek care is not easy,” said Angela Fox, Head of Analytics at Bright.md. “Which is why it’s critical to offer more education for patients, providers and staff on what options are available and where people can find care.”
As executives learned throughout the webinar, consumers continue to ask for convenient, on-demand care options like asynchronous telehealth and–for many common, low-acuity conditions– are shifting to prefer it compared to more traditional ways of receiving care.
“In today’s world, people expect to have options—especially for on-demand, ‘right now’ care,” said Scott Rogers, System Director, Performance Integration and Innovation at CoxHealth, a Bright.md partner. “And people want to know, not only do I have options but when I choose an option, I want you to know me; ‘knowing me’ as a patient is an increasing expectation.”
Technology that mimics a face-to-face provider interaction, like Bright.md, offers patients the personalization they’re looking for. In fact, our data confirms that asynchronous telehealth is quickly becoming the preferred care delivery method among consumers for conditions like anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as UTIs, ear infections, and low back pain.
And that’s no surprise, considering how much convenience and ease-of-use impacts consumer preferences. For mental health conditions in particular, patients can be nervous about stigma and often receive no care at all. In fact, 25 percent of patients from one health system who used Bright.md to get treatment for behavioral health needs said they “would have done nothing,” if it weren’t for Bright.md.
The power of asynchronous telehealth is clear among consumers, but what about its operational benefits for efficiency and cost savings? As direct-to-consumer healthcare options continue to grow, systems can’t afford to lose their low-acuity patients. With an asynchronous telehealth solution like Bright.md, though, systems can successfully keep patients from finding care elsewhere—23 percent of Bright.md users said if it weren’t for having access to our platform, they would have found care outside of the system altogether.
Looking to unpack more consumer data trends? Check out the full webinar now, and discover how one Bright.md customer, CoxHealth, guided 87 percent of patient users to the right venue of care through Navigate–and how that’s making an impact.
