Self-service healthcare is not an oxymoron. In fact, it just might be an opportunity whose time has come. Driven by significant advances in Internet, mobile and kiosk technologies, and the rise of the "Information Omnivore" — a well-informed, empowered consumer — the time seems ripe for emergence of personalized self-service healthcare, where consumers play a more active role in the evaluation and management of their medical well-being.
As smart technology, infused with intelligence, continues to make pertinent information more accessible, healthcare experts believe such progress could ultimately lead to increased compliance to treatment regimes, a healthier population and potentially lower healthcare costs. In some quarters, it is already happening. Self-service technology is currently available to help healthcare patients register for services, retrieve information, navigate their way through a facility and settle accounts.
This consumerization of healthcare could mean it won't be long before patients expect the same level of self-service convenience in healthcare that they can now get in an airport or a traditional retail store and a growing number of other industries. I am convinced that if self-service can be linked to patients' primary care doctors and the doctor-patient relationship in a meaningful way, it can be a very powerful healthcare offering. Just as self-service kiosks for airplanes are linked to the airlines.
Technology providers who aggressively pursue solutions that meet these emerging expectations could help clients reduce their costs and improve overall staff productivity. Such health management tools could help clinicians and patients alike benefit from the availability of patient information. Technology could be the catalyst needed to move information from the doctor's file folder to an easily accessible self-service kiosk, or online Web browser.
An interesting healthcare trend I've noticed recently is the rapid growth of retail clinics in such places as strip malls, CVS stores, Wal-Marts, shopping centers and other locations. During 2007, there were roughly 750 of these clinics in the U.S., all run by licensed physicians managing a group of licensed practical nurses. The total represents growth of almost four times the number that existed in 2006, with analysts predicting the number of clinics to continue their annual growth in double-digits even in tough economic times.
Yet, in spite of its promise, self-service healthcare has several inhibitors, including privacy regulations, initial cost of capital, a clear return on investment and overall user acceptance. However, we believe that the focus on healthcare reform and cost reduction on a broader scale will trickle down and begin to manifest itself in leveraging self-service solutions to improve both cost and efficiency. In addition, growing consumer dissatisfaction with such things as the inconvenient process of waiting rooms, paperwork, calls to insurance companies and pre-authorizations, could help accelerate the deployment of self-service solutions.
As self-service continues to spread rapidly across multiple industries, healthcare truly represents the next major frontier. Consumers are getting more and more comfortable with self-service technology. They enjoy the option of "serving themselves" for many common tasks. Self-service is now viewed by many consumers as a critical element of outstanding consumer service. The most familiar examples include ATMs, check-in at airports and self-checkout systems in retail stores.
When talking about the consumerization of self-service, we see a combination of touch points for consumer interaction, such as the home computer, mobile devices and kiosks in multiple industry establishments. With multiple interaction points, it is important to ensure a common brand image, data sharing and integration to back-end systems, to make certain that the consumer receives a consistent and intuitive experience regardless of where and how they interact with your business.
The proliferation of self-service technology in the healthcare industry presents both a challenge and opportunity. A key challenge is growing user confidence and acceptance — a much higher threshold to overcome than self-service solutions for a grocery store or apparel retailer. More is at stake if something goes wrong. A challenge to businesses deploying self-service solutions is choosing the right platform. The platform capabilities and other critical requirements must be in place to ensure the solution is deployed successfully — scalability, performance, open standards, security, integration with other health information systems, and systems management to name a few. Consumers will not accept self-service options that are not reliable or secure, or that have slow performance. The software infrastructure is also critical to ensuring the self-service solutions can connect with the appropriate back-end systems such as patient records.
Challenges notwithstanding, I am convinced that the opportunities are endless. Consumers are projected to spend over $1 trillion through self-service kiosks by 2011, according to IHL Research, which affirms a September 2007 IBM study that showed consumers becoming more and more comfortable with self-service as a way to access additional resources when it is convenient for them.
- Eighty-one percent of consumers indicated their reasons for choosing to use self-service technology over human interaction is that it allowed them to access information and services outside of normal business hours.
- Sixty-nine percent said they expect more and more businesses to offer a self-service option.
- Fifty-two percent revealed they are very comfortable using self-service technology, with roughly 50 percent indicating their usage of self-service devices had gone up during the past year.
- Almost half of consumers would use self-service technology in lieu of human interaction to get more personal information such as accessing human resources or benefits information at work (45 percent) and checking in and reviewing medical history at a doctor's office (40 percent).
- More than 33 percent of consumers said they would like additional resources available to them while they shop.
As is the case with a number of today's service establishments, there might not always be a person waiting to answer your questions, or the waiting line might be too long, causing you to leave. Studies have shown that consumers will wait a maximum of 3-4 minutes before they get frustrated and potentially leave. What if you're at a drug store and the line is several people deep? All you want to know is whether to take certain non-prescription medication with your prescription medicine. A kiosk could help you get your question answered almost instantly. And self-service kiosks are more private. There are medical questions and issues you just don't want to talk about to a live person, but you may need the information. In some cases, you can search it out online, however, if you're in store, an in-store kiosk could be used.
It's about providing smarter, more convenient solutions for consumers. Although it's not the only solution, self-service kiosks could serve as a valuable extension to access information from electronic medical records systems, and to obtain prescription information, and other online customer data, products and services.
Self-service could be just what the doctor ordered — a fast and convenient option for consumers, and a boon for innovative, consumer-driven IT vendors ready and willing to pursue an opportunity that I believe is the next great frontier for a growing self-service economy.
