/ en Thu, 08 May 2025 02:01:40 -0500 Tue, 17 Dec 19 14:20:03 -0600 /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2019-12-17-millennials-speak-about-their-health-care .field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } <div class="container row"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <p><img alt="Millennials Speak Up About Their Health Care Expectations. A millennial woman talking with here doctor via Facetime." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="53ff93f4-4344-496f-9a34-ea858a2487e4" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/ms_121719_item1_millennials_620_927905.jpg" width="620" height="350"></p> <p>Hospital and health system leaders and their boards continue to wrestle with how to engage millennials (generally regarded as those born between 1981 and 1996) in managing their health. They’re not alone. Many payers, tech companies and others allied to the field also are trying to figure out what this generation wants from health care and how to retain millennials as customers. Two new surveys offer some interesting perspectives.</p> <p>A recent <a href="https://www.welltok.com/portfolio_page/report-reveals-what-millennials-want/" target="_blank">Welltok survey report</a> contradicts some common assumptions about millennials — namely, that they are primarily concerned with convenience and are less interested in accessing primary care services. The company, which provides consumer data to payers, employers, providers and public entities, says its polling found that 93% of millennials want a provider relationship, but 85% feel that providers only care about them when they are sick. They also want to feel supported in their efforts to improve their overall health.</p> <p>Survey data showed that millennials strongly prefer a holistic approach to health, with 90% saying they want support for emotional/mental health, adequate sleep and positive family relationships. This tracks with research showing that millennials are experiencing more anxiety than previous generations.</p> <p><img alt="Millennials Speak Up About Their Health Care Expectations Infographic. By year's end, millennials will number 73 million and surpass Boomers by 1 million." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="54c8a57b-4ce6-4d90-a73a-5471518e0b82" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/ms_121719_item1_millennials_chart_620_927902.jpg" width="620" height="244"></p> <p>And while fewer millennials have a primary care provider than those from other generations, nearly half ranked providers as the first place they would go for support — ahead of their employer, health plan or pharmacy. <a href="https://khn.org/news/spurred-by-convenience-millennials-often-spurn-the-family-doctor-model/" target="_blank">A Kaiser Health Foundation study</a> conducted in July had a similar finding about millennials not having a primary care doctor. That study found that 45% of those respondents 18 to 29 years old did not have a primary care provider.</p> <p>Welltok’s takeaways from the survey data for provider organizations include:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Support holistic health:</strong> Yes, millennials want input when it comes to physical activity and nutrition, but they also want support across all aspects of health. A 2018 white paper from the TransAmerica Center for Health Studies based on its 6th annual Consumer Health Survey noted that millennials are more mindful of their total health than other generations and were more likely to explore integrative medicine options over the past 12 months, including mental health, chiropractor and acupuncture visits.</li> <li><strong>Millennials want to be loyal:</strong> Nearly nine out of 10 respondents said they would be more loyal to providers who support their total well-being.</li> <li><strong>Millennials expect personalization:</strong> Providers must serve up relevant, personalized experiences. More than 80% of responding millennials feel that if their providers knew more about their health interests, goals and motivations, they would be able to serve them better.</li> </ul> <p>Millennials also are looking for payers to transform to meet their needs, according to results from a recent <a href="https://go.healthedge.com/2019-11-VOMS-Consumer-Survey.html" target="_blank">survey by HealthEdge Software</a>, which provides products and services to health plans. This survey found that millennials have less trust in the current model of health insurance administration than that of older generations and they expect payers to modernize.</p> <p>In the survey of more than 5,000 customers, millennials had less trust in their health plans than other generations, with only 53% saying they believe their current plan is most effective at administering benefits. Millennials also were the least satisfied generation with how insurers communicate, with only 62% saying they found communication satisfactory.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" data-entity- data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" type="file" class="align-center"></a></p> <a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img alt data-entity-type data-entity-uuid src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png"></a></div> </div> </div> Tue, 17 Dec 2019 14:20:03 -0600 Millennials /news/insights-and-analysis/2019-11-07-how-henry-ford-west-bloomfield-hospital-embracing-culture <p>Through its unique and innovative 100-day workout model — a pilot project-turned-success that asks employees to spend 100 days making two changes a month to the status quo of how they operate — Henry Ford West Bloomfield (Michigan) Hospital has boosted staff engagement and morale, empowered non-traditional leaders and improved cross-functional problem solving.  </p> <p>The 191-bed hospital with more than 1,800 employees has spent the past few years creating a culture of change to achieve those desired results. With the help of consultants and now in-house team members, leaders at the hospital meet regularly with the executive team to better understand the hospital’s most pressing issues. To address them, staff across various departments are assigned to a team that meets for the 100 days to solve a challenge. </p> <p>With the launch of each new “workout,” team members are assigned roles to address the challenge and learn new skills and problem-solving techniques.</p> <p>In the five years since the hospital started this work, 100-day workouts have led to efficiencies in operations, improved health outcomes, and significant financial savings — all from cross-departmental collaboration and a culture that encourages employees to try new things. </p> <h2>Creating a culture of change</h2> <p>Today, thanks to the 100-day workout model, staff are getting creative in their problem solving, teaming up collaboratively and empowering non-traditional leaders, such as millennials, to brainstorm resourceful solutions. </p> <p>At leadership team meetings, Karen Harris, R.N., chief nursing and operations executive, and Tracy Kramer, director of strategic and business planning, listened for opportunities to improve efficiencies and gathered that small tweaks could go a long way. By focusing on implementing small changes in order to see big results, this took the pressure off staff and illustrated firsthand how taking chances could lead to smoother processes, and improved health outcomes. </p> <p>Recent 100-day workouts have tackled everything from streamlining the patient intake process to ensure patients are seen quicker, addressing clinician burnout and focusing on employee wellness. </p> <p>Kramer emphasized that in the 100-day workouts, employees are encouraged to try two new changes a month, “but they don’t need to be successful with two.” </p> <p> “We really try to embrace the idea that change can be small, and that it’s OK to fail,” Kramer said. </p> <p>The project has led to many “deep conversations about failure,” underscoring the need in health care to discuss these failures, why they happened, and how to operate differently the next time. </p> <p>“If you don’t have the tough conversations about what is causing waste day to day and how to fix it, people just come up with their workarounds and deal with it,” Kramer said. “Once you look at it as an opportunity to eliminate it, things bubble up to the top that you can actually work to fix them instead of just talking about them.”</p> <h2>Engaging the millennial workforce </h2> <p>As a hospital with a relatively “flat” organizational hierarchy, Henry Ford West Bloomfield is constantly searching for ways to give employees opportunities to grow. </p> <p>With the 100-day workout, employees of all ages and backgrounds are put on the same team to address challenges creatively, which can showcase their unique skills and inspired thinking. In addition, the workouts allow for employees to embrace leadership and “coaching” roles, facilitating discussions and reporting back to the hospital’s executive team. </p> <p>“Millennials in particular want growth and development in the workforce,” Harris said. “They have the social network already, so the collaboration is natural. They ask questions in a different way, and they want flexibility and agility in the workplace.” </p> <p>The 100-day workouts successfully met these needs and have left many of the hospital’s employees feeling empowered and invigorated, Kramer and Harris said. </p> <p>In addition to debriefing on lessons learned, the workouts culminate in “award ceremonies,” and staff recognition, contributing to an overall sense of pride, joy and appreciation for new opportunities and professional growth. </p> <p>The project’s most notable outcomes — in addition to increased employee engagement — include improved readmissions while reducing length of stay; improved Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores and other quality, financial, and operational enhancements. In the past five years, the work generated 3,978 changes trialed totaling over $21M of savings.<br />  </p> Thu, 07 Nov 2019 08:43:33 -0600 Millennials /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2018-10-15-millennials-opt-cheaper-faster-alternatives .field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } <h2>What’s New</h2> <p>Millennials are nearly twice as likely as other adults to not have a primary care doctor. Recently released data from a <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-july-2018-changes-to-the-affordable-care-act-health-care-in-the-2018-midterms-and-the-supreme-court/" target="_blank">national poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation</a> found that 45 percent of respondents 18-29 years old don’t have a primary care physician. This tracks closely with a <a href="https://www.ebri.org/surveys/chcs/" target="_blank">2017 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute,</a> which found that 33 percent of millennials did not have a regular doctor, compared with 15 percent of 50-64 year olds.</p> <h2>What It Means</h2> <p>A generational shift is occurring with millennials and their choices when it comes to primary care. The 83 million millennials born between 1981 and 1996 are proving to be sharply different from previous generations in how they seek care — opting for convenience and lower price over maintaining a relationship with a primary care doctor.</p> <p>Ateev Mehrotra, M.D., an internist and associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, <a href="https://khn.org/news/spurred-by-convenience-millennials-often-spurn-the-family-doctor-model/" target="_blank">told <em>Kaiser Health News</em></a> that it isn’t just millennials who feel this way. They’re just far more apt to make their care decisions with these factors in mind. As the KHN report notes, that could be a costly choice in the long run for millennials and the health care system. It could lead to worsening the problem of fragmentation or unnecessary care, including the misuse of antibiotics. Likewise, even though walk-in clinics in retail settings and elsewhere can bring the speed and transparent pricing millennials demand, these professionals don’t have the personal knowledge of a patient’s long-term history and often don’t coordinate care.</p> <h2>6 Ways to Engage Millennials</h2> <p>Many primary care practices are exploring strategies and tactics to connect with millennials more effectively. Here are six options experts say to consider:</p> <ul> <li>Devise strategies to facilitate same-day and/or Saturday appointments.</li> <li>Use patient portals and other digital tools to facilitate communication between patients and doctors.</li> <li>Offer video visits.</li> <li>Enable appointment scheduling through smartphones.</li> <li>Connect with patients through electronic interfaces. Millennials, in particular, are more comfortable communicating via text messaging and other electronic means.</li> <li>Reinforce to millennials the value of having a long-term relationship. Provide more education on wellness and prevention to avoid more serious health problems.</li> </ul> Mon, 15 Oct 2018 15:46:19 -0500 Millennials /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2018-09-24-how-youre-transforming-carle .field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } <p>Carle — a central Illinois-based integrated health system that includes hospitals, a physician group and the health plan HealthAlliance — used design thinking to develop a new set of health plan offerings to better engage millennials. Through the <a href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http:%2F%2Fsend.aha.org%2Flink.cfm%3Fr%3DtFWR14o4RGMloe5Gsqdp2Q~~%26pe%3DivbjcUe6cgi7s-Yphmo2EoOV1LY3Cj6RyfZSBVJ9drBWXFK7qPdvDyLhbvmq9xGi3nKZGesHmqpILw5P9t-8wA~~%26t%3DixSJke3MNuwvqF6GDMF5CA~~&data=02%7C01%7Cmdiener%40aha.org%7Cb869f8e1bbda414b2ee808d62235cca6%7Cb9119340beb74e5e84b23cc18f7b36a6%7C0%7C0%7C636734011820863683&sdata=z3xv0A97zCECvKadxeX%2BYIoQXoIw623jzmXGU41r6zA%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">AHA Innovation 90 program</a>, in just 90 days, a team from Carle/Health Alliance tested a prototype set of benefits and mobile app improvements that will be rolled out to their millennial plan members. <a href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http:%2F%2Fsend.aha.org%2Flink.cfm%3Fr%3DtFWR14o4RGMloe5Gsqdp2Q~~%26pe%3DvbcqID8s-5mVeUqr0c8Aqzut5uLiHpJUqsYlR9dKZBYaEOmDEPtnD1-a92YhaN9qEF5r1LtG_k1H-N37X4A9fA~~%26t%3DixSJke3MNuwvqF6GDMF5CA~~&data=02%7C01%7Cmdiener%40aha.org%7Cb869f8e1bbda414b2ee808d62235cca6%7Cb9119340beb74e5e84b23cc18f7b36a6%7C0%7C0%7C636734011820863683&sdata=i412%2FkzuKShXoy3RO90TLzGpij4dEGDuFRqb9iRhZnU%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">Click here</a> to view the full case study.</p> Mon, 24 Sep 2018 16:33:15 -0500 Millennials