- 3D Digital Models Aid COVID-19 Diagnosis
By April, a majority of providers had transitioned to virtual care and consumers supported this move.
Sixty-two percent of consumers reported that they would “definitely” receive health and wellness advisories or remote monitoring of ongoing health issues.
Specifically, 57 percent of consumers would receive care through at home devices, while 52 percent would choose virtual for routine appointments.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said that a trusted healthcare professional would be the number one factor that would motivate them to take a more active role in managing their health virtually.
Convenient access to these professionals, both virtually and in person, was also a motivating factor for 34 percent of respondents.
Prior to the pandemic, one-third of consumers surveyed (33 percent) were not using any digital tools to manage their health.
Specifically, the usage of mobile devices and applications declined nearly 13 percent from 2018 to 2020, from 48 percent to 35 percent. And among younger generations, mobile app usage went from 63 percent in 2018 to 50 percent in 2020.
In contrast, older individuals didn’t see a substantial decrease over the years.
During the pandemic, just a small percentage of consumers (38) reported that they felt comfortable using a range of health and wellness services, including digital and virtual to manage their health.
“Barriers to adoption could still impede progress. Even as consumers gain confidence in digital tools and services post-pandemic, there is still work to be done to meet expectations for superior digital services,” researchers stated.
“Amid the pandemic, consumers with nowhere else to turn were forced to lower their expectations for the quality of digital health experiences. But as things normalize, we believe that consumers will revert to prior expectations.”
Despite the recent spike in digital technology interest, 38 percent of respondents had concerns regarding privacy or data security as the adoption of chatbots, computers, and digital services continued to rise.
Specifically, 60 percent of these individuals ranked these concerns in the top four barriers surrounding technology adoption.
On the other hand, 46 percent of respondents said that they didn’t trust the effectiveness of the digital services they previously used, despite highly recommending their physicians or nurses in general.
And many consumers reported having less trust in tech companies than doctors in keeping their information secure.
Just this year, 49 percent of individuals trusted that their doctor or healthcare provider was keeping their information safe, while just 13 percent believed the same to be true for technology companies.
Unsurprisingly, younger generations have a much greater trust in tech companies.
Researchers recommended that providers make security and privacy a top priority even after the pandemic is over, and to be transparent to consumers about how data is collected and used.
During a pandemic when digital care is the only efficient way to receive care, individuals without computers, smartphones, or broadband internet are limited in their ability to use these necessary virtual services.
This creates a substantial digital divide.
Providers must account for culture and socio-demographic variance. This means they must work to understand the wide variations in buying power, health literacy and digital competence, and access to broadband, and close that gap, researchers said.
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