If you see a patient grinning at a medical clinic, know that it may be a fake smile. That’s the No. 1 takeaway from a survey of more than 2,300 U.S. residents conducted by Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co.).
“When people are asked to rank their experience with their health care system, it is not a high outcome,” says Jaime Estupiñán, a New York-based partner in the firm’s health practice. “It’s important to have that in mind — the consumer, for the most part, is not that satisfied.”
John Santa, M.D., medical director at Consumer Reports Health, thinks he knows why. Until recently, consumers have had no information with which to evaluate their health care experience.
“When we survey consumers, they really don’t know the benefits and risks of the health care they’re getting. They don’t know about how health care organizations are performing [in comparison with one another], and they don’t know what anything costs,” he says. “The industry has kept them, frankly, at a child or adolescent stage.”
Overall, not so happy.
Percentage of consumers who said they were satisfied with their health care in five areas:
Core benefits.......................................................66%
Cost and quality...................................................63%
Administrative services........................................62%
Access to programs to manage health.................. 57%
Overall consumer experience...............................49%
Source: Strategy&, The Birth of the Healthcare Consumer survey, 2014
Read Part 1 of H&HN’s series, The New Health Care Consumer.
