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Hospital Demographics and Healthcare Technology
Hospital demographics are changing, and fast. Healthcare consumers in generational groups expect different levels of communication and information delivery. Looking at your patient population influences your decisions about supportive technologies.
Hospitals face any number of challenges today, especially given staff burnout due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Providers are also juggling resource allocation and tight budgets with new technologies that support patient quality goals. You can future proof your care delivery by understanding patient demographics. If you’re choosing smart hospital technologies, pick those that reinforce the most efficient use of your resources.
The General Demographics: Breaking It Down
“Baby Boomers”
Baby Boomers (1946-1964) tend to seek out health information and their hospital providers based on long-standing relationships, reviews and information about their hospitalization choices from online services. This generation can also be thought of as “the Sandwich Generation”. Many members of this generational community may be taking care of their parents as well as their own children. They may be less concerned with technologies used in their care and treatment than in the quality of the relationships they form with their Care Team. They value a long-term relationship with their provider.
When reviewing your hospital demographics, it’s important to keep in mind the various levels of digital acuity those groups may have to maximize engagement with your technology systems. Have a welcome video with quick instruction on how to access common or popular apps. Make room controls readily available via a smartphone or TV. Even better, give them self service options through their Pillow Speaker. With touch technology like that available with MediaCare, you can provide a greater range of services to meet the changing needs of all those you serve.
“Gen X”
Generation X (1965-1980) healthcare consumers are highly tech-savvy, having grown up in a period of great advancement in computer technology and the birth of the global Internet. They will shop for hospital and health services online and have short-term expectations for their Care Team relationship. They may switch providers if they feel they didn’t have a good experience.
“Millennials”
Millennials, also often referred to as Generation Y (1981-1996) are by far the largest group of healthcare consumers. They tend to seek providers based on reputation, their social network, brand, and referrals by friends and family. This group comparison shops, so they’ll respond to advertising and current news. This is also a group of patients who will change providers or hospitals based on their satisfaction level. They may also change based on what kind of experience they had from initial contact.
What are the common denominators for patient satisfaction across groups?
How you manage expectations and patient satisfaction is measurable in any number of ways. For these three groups of healthcare consumers, it’s clear that three key experiences influence them:
- Information delivery in easy to digest digital formats
- Full involvement and choice in healthcare decision-making
- Real-time, honest and direct communication
MediaCare Can Provide Hospital Demographics Information
With a smart, integrated solution like MediaCare, hospitals and healthcare providers have a multi-tiered platform for patient satisfaction. The solution meets these three key factors and prepares your facility for the next gen of health consumer groups. For example, use the Analytics Dashboard to configure custom reporting, so you can determine how to best engage and communicate with patients and their families. The grouped data in the Dashboard lets you schedule resources and helps you plan for capital spending and improvements.
MediaCare integrates existing hospital systems into a real-time communication platform. Integrated systems include EHR, Nurse Call, RTLS, Imaging, Tests, EVS, and more. With it, patients are fully aligned with their Care Team, which can raise HCAHPS scores across your patient groups.
Vital patient information automatically displays and updates on all connected devices, and patients have immediate updates on treatment and tests from their EHR. Patients also have access to digital educational content to prepare for discharge.
Patients can enter questions, give feedback and respond to branched logic surveys so you have immediate information for service recovery. What’s more, you can use that data to reward staff who go above and beyond. It’s a win for any generation!