Mitch Rothschild, the CEO of online physician appointment and ratings website Vitals, sees 2014 as a mix of positive and negative consumer healthcare trends that could play to the strengths of digital health companies. As provisions of the Affordable Care Act continue to roll out and the industry responds, Obamacare pros and cons will begin to take hold. With millions of people expected to join the healthcare system, Rothschild anticipates even more demand for the services of digital health companies. Here’s a look at five trends in healthcare he identifies as big trends influencing Vital’s business in 2014 in a report published this week.
Wait times will go up: With fewer primary care physicians to meet the demand, there’s nowhere for wait times to go but up. The Vitals Index, which tracks wait time data, shows that from 2010 to 2013 the average time a patient waits in the office rose by…30 seconds. I think it would be more interesting to track the average wait to get an appointment since that is likely to get significantly longer. With the amount of time spent with the physician expected to decrease, nurse practitioners and telemedicine are seen as attractive alternatives in some states, where they are changing their regulations accordingly.
Patient-doctor relationships: Rothschild said its company research indicates people are doing a lot of research to find the ideal doctor, but the bigger question is will their insurance plan respect their choice? Based on trends last year, insurance plans are getting pickier about which doctors are included in member networks. With insurance companies deciding to pull out of some states, it will take some time before the market settles and insurance companies honor their member preferences.
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Ratings websites are positioned to have more influence on physician choices: If these websites are to have a greater influence on these choices, it will become even more critical for these websites to generate enough information so users can make informed decisions. Rothschild cited Vitals’ own research pointing out that it takes input from five to six people for users to take a review seriously. He also referenced a company survey in which 76 percent of respondents said they considered patient reviews as important as the number of years a doctor had practiced when it came to determining a doctor’s qualifications.
Growth of urgent care and walk-in drugstore clinics: Both urgent care centers and walk-in retail clinics are viewed as ways to bring down healthcare costs. According to Vitals, 9,000 urgent care facilities have opened to date and up to 800 more are opening their doors this year. It represents a relatively new source for physician ratings on Vitals’ website. Retailers such as CVS and Walgreens are expanding their clinics for access to low-cost care. These tend to be favored by young people, according to Vitals data. CVS, Walgreens and others are also ramping up their digital health teams to support the expansion of digital health services.
More online appointments: The convenience factor coupled with the influence of the hospitality industry on healthcare has meant more physician practices using online scheduling either directly or through a patient portal. In 2013, 20 percent of family doctors offered online scheduling indirectly or directly, compared with 6 percent in 2005, according to data from Vitals.
[Photo Credit: Health button on computer from BigStock Photo]
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