Salesforce Delivers "2015 State of the Connected Patient" Report

Report finds Americans with insurance and a primary care physician are generally satisfied with their care, but numerous inefficiencies remain, and millennials want new technology solutions such as mobile apps, telehealth and wearables

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Salesforce

Feb 12, 2015, 08:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce [NYSE: CRM], the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, today delivered its "2015 State of the Connected Patient" report. Based on research of more than 1,700 adults with health insurance and a primary care doctor (here after referred to as "insured patients"), the report found serious inefficiencies in the use of technology to enable more connected care. As the deadline approaches for enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) -- which encourages providers and payers to modernize care through the use of technology -- the report found that less than 10% of insured patients use the web, email or text messages to set up appointments. And 40% of insured patients do not communicate with their physician to manage preventive care (e.g., monitor diet, check in on exercise and regular health screenings).

Even more challenging for providers is that millennial-aged insured patients (defined in the report as currently aged 18 to 34 years old) expressed strong interest in using new technologies to augment healthcare collaboration with their primary care physician. The opinions of millennials are important, as their preferences and habits represent the future of healthcare expectations, consumption and delivery. For example, 60% of millennials support the use of telehealth options to eliminate in-person visits and 71% would like to have their provider use a mobile app to book appointments, share health data and manage preventive care.

The study was commissioned by Salesforce and conducted online by Harris Poll in January 2015. To download the "Salesforce 2015 State of the Connected Patient" report, click here.

"2015 State of the Connected Patient" Key Report Findings

  • Insured patients believe their team of doctors share health records with each other:
    • On average, insured patients see their primary care doctor three times a year and on average, they have 2.5 doctors overseeing some aspect of their care with 76% of them confident their doctors share health records between them.
  • The majority of health consultations still rely on in-person interactions while who keeps track of their data varies greatly:
    • Insured patients most commonly review their health data in-person (40%), get test results in person (44%) and even pay their health bills in person (38%).
    • 62% of insured patients rely on a doctor to keep track of their health data while 28% of Americans still keep track of their health data using a folder, shoebox, lockbox, drawer or another home-based system.
  • Unfortunately, there is a lack of emphasis on preventive care:
    • 40% of insured patients say they do not communicate with their physician to manage preventive care.
  • A significant portion of the population also does not have a relationship with their primary care doctor, but the issue is especially prevalent with millennials:
    • 40% of millennial-aged insured patients said they do not think their doctor would recognize them if they passed each other on the street.
  • Millennials are very receptive in using new technology as part of their care:
    • 71% of millennials would be interested in a doctor/provider offering a mobile app to actively manage their well-being for preventive care, review health records or schedule appointments.
    • 63% of millennials would be interested in proactively providing their health data from Wifi/wearable devices to their doctor/provider so they can monitor their well-being.

Comments on the News

  • "The Affordable Care Act encourages healthcare providers to use technology to better connect with patients and modernize the health system," said Todd Pierce, senior vice president of Healthcare for Salesforce. "But this data shows that patients and doctors are still using tried-and-true ways of communicating, like phone, mail and in-person visits. We are really at the starting line of connected health."
  • "Healthcare came late to the digital party, which is remarkable since it is arguably our most important, expensive and information-intensive industry. This report vividly illustrates that our increasingly wired populace wants more useful data, more connections with their physicians and more intuitive ways to access high quality healthcare. In our $3 trillion health economy, there is a bounty waiting for the companies that figure out how to meet these needs," said Dr. Robert Wachter, MD, professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and author of "The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age."

Additional resources

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