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Healthcare Tomorrow: Ways healthcare must respond to mature market demands. On the street and in the board room, there is a continuing tendency in America to think and act as though everyone, give or take, is under fifty. Even the health care industry has failed to respond to the challenge an aging population presents. Bruce Clark, DPH, is co-founder of Age Wave LLC and Principal of the Impact Presentations Group, organizations dedicated to researching and understanding the nation's growing mature market. According to Dr. Clark, much awaits improvement in the healthcare sector. Tomorrow's dominant mature market is constituted primarily by baby boomers, the nearly 80 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. These individuals tend to be, in comparison to those born earlier, anti-authoritarian, cause-oriented, and idealistic. Today, baby boomers are between the ages of 37 and 55, meaning that the first baby boomers are beginning to retire and, as the health industry should be aware, experience health complications at a higher rate. To get a better idea of the impact of these factors, Age Wave embarked upon a survey of 2000 baby boomers and 500 physicians, interviewing each participant carefully. The mature consumer, they found, will demand convenience and excellent service, standards they commonly feel are not currently met. Health care professionals and administrators, they say, need to listen more carefully to consumers. An energetic customer service model must be applied to the industry: while health professionals continue to define quality in terms of technology and credentials, consumers are more likely to evaluate the respect and sensitivity with which they're treated. Mature consumers will be characteristically forward-thinking in their approach to healthcare. They will not turn away from alternative and complementary therapies such as chiropractic care, herbal remedies, and biofeedback. They will also expect to have online access to information. Healthcare, it's perceived, haslagged behind other industries tapping into the potential of the Internet. Healthcare is the only major U.S. industry that has managed to resist the customer service movement right up to the present day. The future will be paved with lawsuits if more is not done to stem this recalcitrance. By establishing good rapport with patients, doctors can double the worth of their expertise. Tomorrow's mature consumers will seek collaborative, friendly patient-provider relationships, not presently common in the healthcare sector. Not as reverential as they used to be, they will shop around to get what they're after. Long-term care must also be reconsidered. Dr. Clark observes that the healthcare system is still oriented to treating acute episodes, when increasing numbers of patients suffer from multiple chronic conditions. Hospital leaders might become powerful forces for changing this system within their local communities. While a complete restructuring will require a 10-year commitment from multiple stakeholders, hospitals are in many waysthe natural party to play a catalyzing role. Back To Mature Market News → Go To The GenerationTarget.com Mature Market Bookstore → |
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