While Stephen K. Klasko, MD, president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Jefferson and Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, admits he's not a millennial, he acknowledges the healthcare industry must begin to account for the ways in which younger generations utilize technology and demand transparency to make informed decisions about their health and lifestyle.
In an Oct. 23 op-ed published by athenainsight, Dr. Klasko claims younger generations, including millennials, expect total convenience and transparency in terms of care; they "will not tolerate a healthcare system untouched by the consumer revolution." He cites a recent Jefferson Health survey of patients under 40 years old, which determined that 92 percent of patients expect to have full two-way communication with their providers. Eighty-three percent of those surveyed said they expect full access to their patient information online.
If healthcare organizations want to acquire and keep younger patients, they will have to adapt and incorporate technology into the framework of their enterprise more thoroughly than ever before, Dr. Klasko says. Providers must also begin to streamline their services so younger generations can quickly and easily receive the care they need from the comfort of their own homes — a technological function they've come to expect from every consumer service they use, he notes.
"Today, a person under 40 would never consider choosing a hotel without checking on TripAdvisor or Yelp. It is naïve for us to think that millennials will choose their doctors or hospital without that same level of transparency. … Just as consumers don't talk about telebanking anymore, the millennial generation is not focused on whether or not you have a telehealth program; they simply expect total convenience and transparency in their interactions with your organization," Dr. Klasko writes. "Healthcare needs to move quickly to meet these patient demands as more and more patients expect to consume their healthcare in the flexible manner in which they deal with everything else in their lives."
To read Dr. Klasko's full op-ed, click here.