I just got off the phone with a new business owner who is convinced that people don’t care about health care costs yet, but they do care about convenience and efficiency in our delivery system. He’s building an online doctor service like MD Live Care that we partner with on My Health and Money. His viewpoint is that people want more convenient and efficient forms of care than what is being provided today.
Considering how much talk there is about the rising cost of health care, I was surprised to hear that he didn’t think most insured Americans care about cost. Concern about health costs has definitely trickled down to the employee and consumer level. It isn’t just government and businesses hurting over the rising cost of health care, but individuals as well. In fact, my partner’s doctor told her he had plenty of appointments open because a lot of his patients are forgoing medical services until their symptoms turn acute.
Convenience is a problem that has plagued the health delivery system since doctors stopped doing house calls. Let’s face it, no one likes to drag themselves out of bed with a high fever and hacking cough to go into a doctor’s office and wait. I like the fact that health care consumerism is turning service delivery around so that it’s about patient convenience rather than the provider.
We’re beginning to see lots of new alternatives in the health care system now that everyone is serious about costs, and consumers are beginning to take charge of their care and costs. It’s an exciting time for a slow to change industry.
