Why baby boomers are the most digitally engaged patients

Health systems might think they’re designing digital tools for Gen Z and millennials when, in fact, it’s their parents or grandparents who are more likely to use them.

At least that’s been the case at Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System, where baby boomers are the most digitally engaged generation, with 79% of them using the 17-hospital network’s tech-enabled tools.

“When you think about it’s very logical, because they’re at an age to where, like my parents, in their 80s, all I hear about when I call are the list of doctor’s appointments they have, lab results, all those sorts of things, but they’re keeping up with them, which is a good thing,” said Eric Smith, senior vice president and chief digital officer of Memorial Hermann, at Becker’s 10th Annual Health IT + Digital Health + RCM Conference in October. “Because otherwise, very quickly, they could deteriorate and end up in an ED or in a worse situation.”

When developing digital patient experience tools, health systems can’t guess who their end users will be, Mr. Smith said. So Memorial Hermann built a digital consumer analytics engine to measure who was actually taking advantage of these solutions. For instance, 68% of patients in their 60s and 70s interact with the health system’s text messaging platform, compared to 41% of Gen Zers.

“You can make assumptions about audiences, but you actually have to look at the data,” Mr. Smith said. “Then what we’re doing is we’re taking that back, going, OK, what do we need to do to adjust those numbers? Because we need some of those younger folks to engage now, so that way they’re prepared and they’re really taking more active steps in managing their health.”

Memorial Hermann texts patients from their provider’s office’s actual number with appointment reminders and lab results notifications, allowing them to redial and call the practice directly with questions. Only 0.1% of patients opt out.

“It gives us a channel that we can continue to engage patients in a way they’re used to engaging in, and one they obviously are telling us is a positive experience for them,” Mr. Smith said.

The health system also has voice bots that check in with patients after an emergency department visit — with a 35% hit rate there — or a call to the organization’s 24/7 nurse helpline, leveling them up to a human if need be.

Mr. Smith said the next step in digital engagement is to personalize the type, time and tone of outreach that would be most effective for each individual patient.

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