When it comes to the health care industry, Accenture just ran a study that shows that one in five patients are entirely unaware of the services that are actually available to them. The survey also found that once they are made aware of even some of the services they can use, nearly 60 percent are wanting to use them. An even higher number, 79 percent view these services as being extremely or very valuable.
The survey took the responses of more than 10,000 patients into account. These patients are living in five different countries and across seven therapeutic areas. The survey reveals that despite the fact that there are a number of services offered, companies aren’t getting the word out well enough. Accenture is one of those firms that is shining a light on this kind of thing, in hopes that patients are actually able to live longer, healthier and happier lives.
“These findings show there is a significant opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to improve their impact in healthcare by raising patient awareness of value-added services throughout a patient’s care journey,” Tony Romito, managing director Accenture, Life Sciences said in a recent study.
The opportunity comes from the fact that the survey also found that more patients actually want more help and guidance before they start treatment for a disease. The main issue that bothers these patients is that they don’t know when they are facing an “at risk” situation for a condition. Sixty-five percent of patients said that the pre-treatment phase is the most frustrating with 34 percent saying they were most frustrated with the fact that they might be at risk for a condition before they experienced symptoms.
Finally, the report found that most patients are wanting their doctors or nurses to be the primary way in which they find this new information out. The respondents also said that they would like digital channels to serve as the primary way in which they receive information. Eighty-seven percent of those who took the survey said they want one point of contact when dealing with their health.
Edited by
Dominick Sorrentino
