Insights on Understanding How Post-COVID Consumers View the Concept of Time

I have been investigating human opinions and behavior for 40 years; 35 of those years in health care. We advise some of the country’s leading hospitals and health systems from AMCs to large systems to children’s hospitals to rural hospitals, leveraging insights to inform strategy and communications. And what our clients increasingly want is insights-driven formulas to engage and retain their patient populations - particularly as COVID has changed how people view time now.

We often start with what have come to be affectionately referred to as ‘Rob-isms’. While they are applicable to the broader discipline of brand strategy across virtually all industries, we find these somewhat simplistic concepts particularly relevant to health care in these competitive times. 

Rob-ism #2: “Time is the new currency. You can always make more money but you can’t make more time.”

COVID stole two years of our lives. Time we will never get back. People are more protective of their time than ever before. And they are losing their patience with how long health care makes them wait – whether when trying to get a timely appointment or how long they wait at the appointment. 

Consumers are tiring of health care’s excuses on why they have to wait so long to be seen. In fact, one in five Americans says they are considering switching PCPs because of bad service and this vulnerability goes up significantly among Gen Z and Millennials.

Couple this mental change with an industry-wide challenge of access, especially to primary care and testing. Access to primary care is the number one challenge facing the health care industry and it may be finally tipping the scale with the pain of staying becoming greater than the pain of switching.

For many patients, they are staying with their provider because there are no other available providers to switch to. This creates ‘captive customers’ out of many patients. Captive customers are those who stay with a brand that they are not happy with simply because there is no better or available alternative. And captive customers are harder to please. 

Another negative side effect of lack of access is where patients go for routine or primary care if they can’t get in to see their PCP in a timely fashion. One in ten are ending up in the ER. Here’s the big aha… Finding solutions to primary care will reduce unnecessary ER visits. And who doesn’t want that. Bonus insight for you… I have done a considerable amount of ER journey mapping. 

Want to know the most prevalent thought going through and ER patient’s mind when they are sitting in the waiting room? They are mentally pointing at other patients and thinking “They don’t look that sick.  They don’t need to be here.” Patients are judging other patients whom they deem not that sick to clog up the ER and make them wait.

While consumers are growing tired of health care’s excuses, they want solutions. And, importantly, they are very open to alternatives.

Now, let’s take a look at what we found in our latest National Consumer Insights Study conducted among 1,000 adult health care decision-makers.

• More than six in ten (63%) of Americans report having had difficulties accessing primary care recently. Sick care visits, follow-up visits, and annual physicals topped the list of being hardest to get scheduled in an acceptable timeframe.
• Across all primary or routine care settings, consumers reported waiting twice as long as was acceptable to them (11 days vs. 5 days). And when we drill into visit type, we see the biggest culprits are screening tests and outpatient labs or imaging, virtual visits, and going to the doctor when you are sick and trying to get that follow-up appointment.
• But there is hope. Many consumers are open to solutions if we just offer them. For example, four in ten are open to seeing a NP or PA or another doctor in their PCP’s office if they can be seen sooner.  Even offering a virtual visit instead can ease the access tensions. And let’s not forget urgent care centers. The point is that just offering alternative solutions makes your patients less angry that they can’t get in to see their PCP. A plethora of new doctors is not going to magically appear so we have to work with what we have. Patients appreciate any attempt at a solution and it will go a long way in building a stronger brand relationship. By the way… make sure your doctors are on board with these solutions because they have to ‘sell these solutions’ to their patients as a good thing.

We haven’t talked about the wait time at the office. It’s been a challenge for as long as we can all remember. Here’s an example of a simple solution… If you are running behind just text the patient before they come in and tell them you are running behind for their 2pm appointment and not to show up until 3pm. This may still interfere with other plans they had but at least you proactively let them know so they can adjust. It’s about providing solutions even before the problem impacts them.

Patients will never view time the same way again. It is much more precious than it has ever been.  Acknowledge that you understand how precious their time is and offer solutions to the growing access challenges facing health care.  And don’t ‘wait’ too long!