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AGEIST Contributing to Forbes on Healthcare and Age

For Forbes, along with industry leaders Geeta Wilson and Paul Irving, AGEIST weighed in on why healthcare customer experience needs to adapt.

We are tremendously honored to have been chosen to contribute our findings to the just-released Forbes article by Dan Gingiss “Why An Aging Population Means Healthcare Customer Experience Must Adapt.”

Along with industry leaders Paul Irving of The Milken Center for the Future of Aging, and Geeta Wilson who is transforming the healthcare experience from a patient orientation to a customer orientation with her tech start up Consumer Society, we weighed in with what we felt were some of the main issues and the possible solutions.

As everyone knows, we are not living like our parents did, and our expectations for service and results is far different from what theirs were. Why would the healthcare system be any different from any other business?

“These are not passive consumers; they come out of the 1960s and 1970s, a time when disruption of authority and the belief in individual agency was strong. They are often unwilling to accept the word of a medical expert at face value. Having lived through all manner of marketing, they have a built-in sense of skepticism and are more likely to comparison shop for value and for outcomes than their parents. These are not only the most highly empowered consumers in history, they are also the most discerning.”

On the other hand, people always seem to want to make some massive distinction between our age group and the younger generations. But the truth is, these generations have flattened. The difference between older consumers (us) and younger consumers is not that much anymore.

“The idea of an older generation vs younger generation in defining healthcare going forward assumes there is a fundamental difference between the two generations. Both of them want good and frictionless healthcare. They both hunger for the best products and services. Just as the iPhone is a hit with all ages because it is a great product, the same holds true for healthcare. No one likes opacity of services or pricing, and no one likes interminable wait times. Universally, consumers appreciate transparency, efficiency and positive outcomes. The older consumer is more frequently engaged in the healthcare system, but we should not be thinking about age-specific consumer experiences, we should be thinking about the very best for all consumers.”

As I say so often, just make good stuff and don’t worry about the age specificity. We are clever people. If it works for us, we will find it and use it.

This entire piece is a great read, with a lot of sensible wisdom from Paul and Geeta.

See medical disclaimer below. ↓

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The ideas expressed here are solely the opinions of the author and are not researched or verified by AGEIST LLC, or anyone associated with AGEIST LLC. This material should not be construed as medical advice or recommendation, it is for informational use only. We encourage all readers to discuss with your qualified practitioners the relevance of the application of any of these ideas to your life. The recommendations contained herein are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. You should always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before starting any new treatment or stopping any treatment that has been prescribed for you by your physician or other qualified health provider. Please call your doctor or 911 immediately if you think you may have a medical or psychiatric emergency.

David Stewart
David is the founder and face of AGEIST. He is an expert on, and a passionate champion of the emerging global over-50 lifestyle. A dynamic speaker, he is available for panels, keynotes and informational talks at david@agei.st.

 

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