BALTIMORE, April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sage Growth Partners (SGP) and Black Book Market Research today announced findings from a second joint survey assessing the public's challenges, needs, and perspectives during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was administered to 744 U.S. healthcare consumers during the week of April 6, 2020 and follows the series initiated March 23, 2020 to capture changing attitudes as this situation evolves. SGP and Black Book will re-administer the survey periodically during the health crisis.

Questions were repeated from the first survey to identify shifts in sentiment, and examined perceptions in several new areas, including around gender and politics. As the number of coronavirus cases continue to climb and social distancing measures increase, this second survey discovers anxiety, social isolation, and telehealth needs are rising together. The findings also demonstrate how gender and politics color perceptions.

View the full survey findings as they are updated here.

Key discoveries include:

The U.S. is experiencing a crisis in leadership, with respondents almost evenly split between rating the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic highest versus lowest.

• 30% of respondents rate the Trump administration's handling of the virus the highest (1) while 28% rate it the lowest (9). Additional responses were nearly evenly spread and no one number between these levels received more than 10% of responses.
• 45% of respondents say testing for the virus is not adequate, while 43% say it is adequate and 12% are not sure.

Virtual care could become the new normal. The pandemic may have delivered the initial boost for telehealth, but many respondents want this to be an option post-crisis.

• Nearly half (48%) of respondents say they are seeking more digital health solutions to manage their health and well-being during COVID-19, up 30% from two weeks ago; 38% responded they were not looking for more digital health solutions and 14% expressed they were not sure.  
• Almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) say they are more likely to use telehealth services since the COVID-19 crisis started, compared to 59% two weeks ago. This compares to 9% expressing they are less likely to use telehealth services and 27% who are not sure.
• More than two-thirds (69%) want their provider to offer more telehealth visits as an option to office visits after the crisis ends, compared to 31% who stated no.
• Even though feelings of anxiety (+28%) and social isolation (+18%) have increased, the desire for more access to remote behavioral or mental health services remained similar from the last survey to this one (45% vs. 47%).

As the amount of confirmed COVID-19 cases have increased, so have feelings of anxiety and social isolation.

• Sixty percent of respondents reported anxiety levels of 7 (out of 10) or higher, compared to 47% in the previous survey—a 28% increase. Eleven percent of respondents rated their anxiety level as 3 or lower.
• There was a 78% increase in those reporting the highest anxiety scores (10) during the past two weeks, from 9% to 16%.
• Feelings of social isolation have increased by 18%; 52% reported feeling very isolated (7 or higher) in the first survey, compared to 62% in the second survey.
• People in New York currently show higher anxiety levels than the national average (70% vs. 60% with levels 7 or higher).

Men show more trust in the healthcare system and in the adequacy/availability of testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) than women.

• Testing: 56% of men believe COVID-19 testing has been adequate vs. only 33% of women.
• PPE: 50% of men believe there is enough PPE for healthcare workers vs. only 25% of women.
• Safety: 56% of men feel safe getting treatment at the hospital vs. 30% of women.
• Supplies: 62% of men believe their provider has enough supplies to meet their medical needs vs. 44% of women.
• Telehealth: 44% of men have used a telehealth app vs. 18% of women.

"This pandemic is testing the healthcare system and country in ways that were previously inconceivable," said Doug Brown, President of Black Book Market Research. "As we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to capture a longitudinal view of healthcare consumers' beliefs and attitudes as they change with the situation. At the same time, we are remaining nimble and adding questions that probe areas of interest as they arise. We hope this information will help inform short- and long-term innovation and care delivery decisions, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Sage Growth Partners on this significant research."

"Our country is considerably divided over the handling of this pandemic," said Dan D'Orazio, SGP's CEO. "This is a unique and evolving situation, and it is almost certain that lasting changes will occur to how care is delivered, opening more avenues for innovation, and reexamining earlier processes on where visits occur, how conditions are managed, and how reimbursement is decided. Questions that were asked before this pandemic will not be pushed aside afterwards."

About Black Book
Black Book Market Research LLC, its founder, management, and staff do not own or hold any financial interest in any of the consultants and advisory firms covered and encompassed in the surveys it conducts. Black Book reports the results of the collected satisfaction and client experience rankings in publication and to media before firm notification of rating results and does not solicit survey participation fees, review fees, inclusion, or briefing charges, or involve consultant firm collaboration with Black Book before the announcement of the polling outcomes.

In 2009, Black Book began surveying the client experience of healthcare software and managed services users, as well as polling for trend identification, industry insights, and outcomes. Black Book expanded its survey prowess and reputation of independent, unbiased crowd-sourced surveying to technology professionals, physician practice administrators, clinicians, user-level staff, financial leaders, executives, and board members. Consultants and advisor satisfaction polls were first issued in 2011. In 2012, Black Book included payer organizations and insurers and, in 2015, launched panel surveying healthcare consumers.

About Sage Growth Partners
Sage Growth Partners accelerates commercial success for B2B, B2B2C, and B2C healthcare organizations through a singular focus on growth. The company helps its clients thrive amid the complexities of a rapidly changing marketplace with deep domain expertise and an integrated application of research, strategy, and marketing.

Founded in 2005, Sage Growth Partners is located in Baltimore, MD, and serves clients such as Philips Healthcare, U.S. Renal Care, Quest Diagnostics, Vocera, Livongo, Olive, It's Never 2 Late, and Aperture.

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SOURCE Sage Growth Partners

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