The healthcare industry has been around for a long time, and it has saved millions of lives. In recent times, they have been adapting to the changing times caused by technology, the digital age, and the current pandemic. But some of the industry’s practices are still archaic and need some changing, which the millennials are slowly contributing to making sure they adhere to modern times.
Some older generations of healthcare providers might find it preposterous to change their practices for the millennial generation. But millennials are officially the largest generation as they outnumbered the baby boomers in 2015. It’s certainly not the demographic you would want to ignore, especially their calls for better change.
How Millennials Are Changing Health Care
In the U.S. alone, a recent report estimated the number of millennials to be around 72.1 million. They will more likely continue to be a majority of the American population until the foreseeable future. Their numbers and their insatiable desire to challenge the status quo is a powerful force. They want and need urgent care, change, and progress. Besides those, here are just some of the examples of the things they want from the healthcare industry:
1. Millennials want equality
Millennials are firm supporters of equality, so they are stepping up and making sure the healthcare system hears them and adapt to modern times. They want health care to be accessible for every age, race, ethnicity, gender, and social class.
The millennial generation is more open-minded, and global issues regarding abortion, health care’s accessibility to disadvantaged and marginalized people, and transgender health care wouldn’t just go unnoticed by this demographic.
2. Millennials want transparency
Many people want to know the actual situation with their health and their families with health concerns, and millennials are not an exception. They need the health care system to be transparent, and information about their health be given to them in a way that is easy to understand. Unfortunately, medical terms and health-related data are complicated, and 55% of millennials don’t have the capabilities to understand every medical term. They need essential details to be spelled out as straightforward as possible.
Additionally, millennials wouldn’t just want to trust any healthcare provider; they would want the best if they have the means to afford it. So it means that before they would go to any healthcare facility, they would check the information of the place and each healthcare provider in it. They would want to see reviews given by other patients before they can fully trust their health concerns to you. This behavior means that if they find practices without many reviews or negative feedback would, more often than not; they would seek care somewhere else.
Lastly, millennials expect to be given cost estimates for any health care they are about to receive, whether it’s a check-up, medicine treatments, in-patient operations, or outpatient care. They don’t want to be surprised with bills they wouldn’t be able to afford. The impact of being transparent with this information is significant, especially with millennials being one of the biggest demographics who seek and need health care for themselves and their families.
3. Millennials want easier access to health care
Health care is a human right and not a privilege, and this is exactly what millennials want to prove. For their generation, since most of them are tech-savvy, they wish healthcare providers who are accessible through easy online communication for booking appointments and getting their test results and health records. The same goes for their family members who have any health concerns, too; they would need access to their health information online, giving them the ability to participate effectively.
At the same time, millennials acknowledge that not everyone has the means to go online or access health care in the same manner. But, they would still want health care to be conveniently accessible for everyone regardless of their technical abilities, which is why telehealthcare is a game-changer for millennials and their demands for accessible health care for everyone. They don’t want to waste their time or anyone else’s, so they depend on technology to do the basic processes for them, so scheduling software, virtual tools, and updated technology are a must.
Everyone Deserves Health Care
These demands of millennials aren’t anything new. These demands have existed long before this new demographic has taken over the population. Even previous generations like generation X wanted equality, transparency, and accessibility.
This list might continue perpetuating previous generations’ stereotypes about millennials, that they are entitled individuals, but it shouldn’t. Because everyone, regardless of their generation, race, gender, and social class, deserves health care.