How to give health consumers the access and experience they value most

The EY Global Consumer Health Survey 2023 finds consumers value access most, but also want cost-effective care and relief from pain and anxiety.

What do consumers value in health care? They want access to care when they or a family member need it. They want a cost-effective system and relief from pain and anxiety. Consumers perceive access to care as having the most value, but the EY Global Consumer Health Survey 2023 found only 37% of global consumers in the survey said their health system offered good, very good or excellent access to care.

To better understand what consumers value in health care, in early 2023, EY researchers surveyed more than 6,000 consumers across six countries: the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, England and Germany, with the majority having had contact with the health care system in the previous 12 months. Read the full survey highlights report (pdf).

Value in health care is deeply anchored in the responsibilities of providers and payers for overall cost and quality outcomes. Specifically, accounting for whole-of-person care through quality-linked payments, the distribution of risk and tools that drive care coordination, improve quality and financial efficiency.

But to look at value only through the lens of providers and payers leaves the consumer — the most important participant in health care — out of the value equation. We know activated, engaged patients are more likely to comply with their care plans and make behavioral decisions in support of their health. 

Whose responsibility?

Overall, the survey respondents believe the responsibility for good health lies with individuals (44%) or is a shared responsibility with their medical providers (43%). One in seven (13%) puts that responsibility with medical experts. Individuals who believe that medical experts are in charge of achieving overall good health tend to have poor or fair health, chronic conditions and are in lower income brackets.

Who’s interacting more with the system?

Fifty-five percent of respondents are more proactive with their health and undertake medical checkups. Those who claim to have good, very good or excellent health (58%) are more likely to have consulted a medical professional in the past 12 months for a routine checkup. In the future, these proactive individuals are more inclined to consider monitoring their health using technologies such as genetic testing (70% vs. 68% overall) or wearable sensors (66% vs. 64% overall).

How are they treated?

Nearly three-quarters (73%) say they are treated with empathy, courtesy and respect, and over two-thirds (69%) say care plans are explained in ways that can be easily understood. Four in five rated the handling of patient privacy as good, very good or excellent.

What drives health system performance from a consumer point of view?

Half of the respondents to the EY Global Consumer Health Survey 2023 say their health care system offers above average performance, while 31% believe their health systems are performing below average.

Many said their health system performs well in critical areas, such as being up to date with the latest treatments and innovations. Across all countries, introducing the latest medical treatments and innovations (48%) and optimizing the overall health experience regardless of race, location or personal circumstance (46%) are perceived to be strong features of health systems.

Considering that consumers put the most emphasis on access when it comes to value, only 37% of global consumers in the survey said their health system offered good, very good or excellent access to care.

What drives health system performance? For consumers, there are three factors:

• Ease of using health care services
• Access to care
• Improving health of the community 

Health systems have the opportunity to improve their performance in the eyes of their consumers by focusing on these drivers

To better understand what drives positive perceptions of the performance of health care systems, a driver analysis was undertaken that estimates the relative importance of different factors in determining the perceived performance of the health care system. 

What are key differences among consumer segments?

Consumers vary in their views on who is responsible for their health, whether they are making decisions for the present or the future and how involved they are in medical decision-making, giving rise to personas that health systems can use to understand how to better approach the community.

For example, the largest consumer segment emerging from the EY survey findings is among those who trend older, may be retired, and pay attention to their health to avoid getting sick in the future, even if they tend to be in good health with no chronic conditions. Roughly 60% rated their digital skills as above average. This segment, referred to as mature altruists, believes medical experts and individuals are both equally responsible for overall good health. They also tend to be partially included in medical decisions. With data insights about this consumer segment and their preferences, health systems can design access and experience strategies that make sense for this group.

Consumer wants and needs vary, spotlighting opportunities for more nuanced engagement strategies

An analysis of consumer responses to the EY survey spotlighted six consumer segments with varying degrees of participation in their health care, openness to virtual and decision-making styles. They also take different views on who is ultimately responsible for their health. 

Why do consumers still prefer in-person to virtual care, and how do they perceive data sharing?

In the EY survey findings, face-to-face consultations were generally viewed more positively than virtual consultations, especially when it came to:

• The ability to show the health condition to professionals (84%)
• Developing a personal connection with the medical practitioner (77%)
• The overall quality of the consultation (71%)
  
• Being given the confidence that their health concerns can be taken care of (67%)
  

What do consumers view as the future of health care?

The future of wellness can only be realized by embracing emerging technologies to move care closer to the consumer wherever they are. So how open are consumers to concepts such as hospital at home and genetic testing that will power the future of health and wellness? The EY survey found:

• 68% are prepared to take a genetic test to assess predispositions to diseases
• 66% agree to take medication that matches their genetic profile
• 66% are also prepared to access health care services in non-health care facilities (i.e., home or store)
• 64% agree to use wearable devices to collect their health information (blood pressure or blood glucose) and send it to the doctor
• 60% to be treated via a hospital-in-the-home program

On the other hand, individuals are less inclined to use products defined as “high tech” to treat a health condition, such as smart pills that travel with the bloodstream and transmit messages to their phones, with 43% agreeing to use them.

Key actions for health organizations

The survey findings spotlight key opportunity zones for health systems. The biggest opportunities lie in improving those aspects consumers rated as very important but where they rated their current health system as having lower performance (as shown in the matrix below).