How millennials’ online consumer behaviors are shaping healthcare

The 2017 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey found millennials are more likely than Gen Xers and baby boomers to be interested in telehealth, research healthcare choices and utilize a health cost-tracking tool.

New research shows millennials are more apt to use non-traditional ways to engage with the healthcare system.

The 2017 Employee Benefit Research Institute/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey examined how millennials, Generation Xers and baby boomers are interacting with providers and their own care.

Between August 10 and September 1, 2017, more than 3,560 adults between the ages of 21 and 64 participated in the survey. All of them had health insurance either through an employer, purchased directly from a carrier or bought through a government exchange. The sample was weighted to signify the actual proportions in the age populations with private health insurance coverage.

Older generations are more likely to have a dedicated primary care provider. While 85 percent of baby boomers and 78 percent of Gen Xers have a PCP, only two-thirds of millennials do.

Instead, millennials appear to be relying on other ways to receive care. For instance, 30 percent of millennials said they have used a walk-in clinic, versus 18 percent of Gen Xers and 14 percent of baby boomers.

Millennials are also making use of technology. They’re more than twice as likely to be interested telemedicine than baby boomers (40 percent of millennials versus 19 percent of baby boomers). Twenty-seven percent of Gen Xers said they’re interested in telehealth.

In addition to an interest in tech, millennials appear to be applying online consumer habits to their healthcare experience. Fifty-one percent of them said they have researched healthcare choices, including by checking the online rating of a hospital or provider. Fewer Gen Xers (34 percent) and baby boomers (31 percent) have done so.

Twenty-eight percent of millennials have utilized an online health cost-tracking tool, compared to 17 percent of Gen Xers and 10 percent of baby boomers. More broadly speaking, 72 percent of millennials have otherwise used means to find healthcare cost information. Slightly fewer Gen Xers (65 percent) and baby boomers (64 percent) have done the same.

Notably, 56 percent of millennials appeared to be happier with the ease of picking a health plan, compared to 46 percent of Gen Xers and 43 percent of baby boomers. While 46 percent of Gen Xers and 46 percent of baby boomers were satisfied with the information available to help understand health plan choices, 56 percent of millennials were.

“Interestingly, millennials’ healthcare consumption habits correspond to being significantly more satisfied with their health plan choices,” Paul Fronstin, director of the health research and education program at EBRI, said in a statement. “This perhaps reflects their comfort in researching consumer decisions online, and applying the same consumer habits they use on Amazon or other retail online sites to the healthcare arena.”

Photo: andresr, Getty Images 

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