Electronic Health Reporter

Xealth announced recent survey findings that examine the digital health expectations of new or expectant mothers compared to the services received from healthcare providers. The last few years have seen a movement towards offering patients a more consumer-friendly experience, with significant investments made in digital health. This new experience can assist with patient engagement, treatment compliance and patient retention.

According to the Project Beyond survey[1], commissioned by Xealth in partnership with Sid Lee and conducted among nearly 1,000 U.S. women who are new or expectant mothers, a majority (53%) who are familiar with digital health see online information as a key factor in choosing a hospital. Key findings include:

• Digital tools rated most important to patients: online access to medical records (61%), online payment tools (57%), online scheduling (52%) and electronic refill of prescriptions (51%);
• Digital tools most offered by hospitals: online payment tools (45%), online access to medical records (39%), online education and information (31%), and online scheduling (29%);
• The widest gaps exist related to electronic refill of prescriptions (51% find this important vs. 23% actually can), online scheduling (52% vs. 29%), and price transparency (30% vs. 8%); and
• Comments about what hospitals can do to improve the digital health experience involved providing greater convenience, creating patient communities, improving education and increasing transparency.

Other notable findings:

• Nearly half of respondants (47%) expect some form of digital interaction with their doctor; and
• Nearly 30% of respondants answered “I don’t know” when asked what the definition of digital health.

“We’re interested in how specific communities are engaging with digital health tools and how those tools impact their health experiences and choices,” said John Breen, executive director of health strategy at Sid Lee. “This survey captured the perspective of new or expectant mothers, most of whom belong to the digital native Millennial and Generation Z cohorts.  As they look to manage growing families and aging parents, their expectations for a digital health experience will only continue to rise.”

Access Sid Lee’s full report and infographic here.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Sid Lee on behalf of Xealth from February 04-11, 2020 among 932 adults ages 18 and older who are new or expecting moms. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

[1] Survey conducted online within the United States by Sid Lee on behalf of Xealth from February 04-11, 2020 among 932 adults ages 18 and older who are new or expecting mothers. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.