Did you know that the average Gen Y/ Millennials-aged patient is almost twice as likely to churn as a Boomer generation patient?
There is currently a massive generational divide in patient expectations and habits that DTC and cash-pay practice owners can’t afford to ignore. This was reinforced by recent data that shows us that:
Why is there such a stark difference? Is the younger generation more impulsive and fickle? Is the older generation more complacent and set in their ways? No, the answer is far more nuanced than that.
Each generation has a specific list of must-haves when it comes to choosing (and staying with) their medical professionals. And if you want to attract customers of all ages, you need to know how to meet those needs.
Here’s how you can attract one generation without ignoring the others.
The ability to book online isn’t a nice-to-have for the younger generation. It’s a must-have.
In fact, according to a recent survey, more than half (58%) of Millennials and 64% of Gen X respondents said they would leave their current doctor for one that offered online booking. At the same time, another 72% of Millennials/Gen Z patients prefer to schedule a doctor's appointment online or via an app.
Not offering younger patients the ability to book online is basically making you an automatic no for younger would-be patients. They book most of their other appointments and make most of their other purchases in a few quick clicks. To them, not being able to do the same for their medical appointments is annoying and cumbersome.
Meanwhile, the older generation doesn’t really care about the ability to book online. In fact, they are often frustrated by online booking forms or endless automated voice prompts. Simply put, they want to speak to a real person to book their appointments or discuss follow-up steps.
One side insists on speaking directly to a real person, whereas the other side does everything in their power to avoid doing that. This means you need to offer a balance of modern solutions combined with the old-fashioned personal touch.
If your website doesn’t currently offer the ability to book appointments online, we have good news! Cerbo’s patient portal gives your patients the ability to request appointments online. At the same time, it also gives you a single streamlined way to message your patients, without having to keep email, text, and voicemail messages straight.
However, you should still have a friendly voice answering the phones for the older generation. Offering Boomers the ability to leave a message isn’t always good enough, particularly if you don’t call them back right away.
A lot of practice owners find themselves having to respond to calls and emails themselves, which often takes them away from higher-value tasks such as patient care, while also delaying response times to any inquiries.
If you’re struggling to keep up with your day-to-day correspondence, you might consider looking into hiring a medical virtual assistant to step in and take those (or other) duties off your plate.
You may think that Boomer-aged patients are indifferent to text messages, or might even find them bothersome. That’s not the case. A surprising 88% of surveyed Baby Boomers said they feel it’s important for healthcare teams to send them reminders when their medications are available to be picked up or when prescriptions need to be refilled.
At the same time, only 45% of surveyed Boomers said they feel that their healthcare providers want to communicate with them between appointments. That’s not a customer experience any generation wants.
The younger generation also wants text messages, but their use case is slightly different. They expect their healthcare professional to remind them of appointments in the weeks and days leading up to their appointments.
In fact, an overwhelming 85% of Millennials like receiving appointment reminders via text, and over 50% are already receiving them from various providers.
To please both crowds, your practice needs to have a reliable and customizable automated text/SMS system to send appointment and medication reminders. It really helps to create that between-appointment customer experience that helps you retain patients of all ages.
If you’re unsure about the costs and the return-on-investment for these solutions, we invite you to consider the impact that automatic reminders can have on your no-show numbers. The average medical practice can easily lose tens of thousands of dollars a year to no-show appointments, with some sectors losing three and four times more than that. Whatever your no-show losses are, text reminders will most likely have a huge impact on bringing them down.
For example, one studied practice slashed its no-shows from 20.99% to 7.07% by introducing telephone reminders. Another vascular laboratory was losing $89,107 annually to a no-show rate of 12%. For them, reducing the no-show rate to 5% translated to increasing their revenue by $51,769.00.
If you would like to learn more about Cerbo’s email and text reminders, click here.
It’s fair to say that 0% of any age group is thrilled at the prospect of long wait times to see their medical professionals. But how big is the generational divide in patience and willingness to wait?
Many Boomer-aged patients often have more complex ongoing health issues, so they are forced to wait longer for specialist appointments. However, there is certainly a wide willingness-to-wait gap between the young and older generations.
When listing the attributes they value in a new doctor, Boomers will list knowledgability, trustworthiness, and individual attention as their top priorities. Meanwhile, the younger generation will often list efficiency, low wait times, and digital tools at the top of their lists.
A Millennial or Gen-Y aged patient may see a 3-month wait time and think that’s completely unacceptable. They are far more likely to shop around for another provider, or speed things up by remaining open to (or even preferring) a virtual appointment.
No matter the age of the average patient you’re targeting, the answer is always to keep your wait times as low as possible.
Right now, you’re probably sarcastically mumbling, “Oh, is that all we have to do? No problem.” But you may assume that reducing your wait times involves bringing in another physician (or more) to split up the patient load. But the surprising reality is that there are far simpler and less expensive ways to bring wait times down.
For example, you can try reducing the time you spend on all non-clinical tasks so you can spend more time in front of patients. Once again, we can hear you say, “Oh, is that all we have to do? No problem.”
How can you do it? You need a tool that can help simplify the non-clinical tasks that are stealing your day right now. For example, Cerbo is an all-in-one EHR solution that helps give you your time back.
We’ve already helped overworked practice owners like you achieve:
At the same time, Cerbo offers online scheduling, text message reminders, and supports integrations with your CRM.
“While it takes a while to customize Cerbo to fit your practice, it is well worth the investment and ultimately saves time and money. The best part is that this translates into successful patient outcomes while minimizing the burden of charting, educating, and day-to-day administrative tasks on the practice team.”
— Dr. Kristann Heinz, MD, RD, Red Hill Medical + Wellness, Pennsylvania.
