ZS Future of
Health Report
Our 6-country Future of Health survey reveals what people want from the healthcare system.
See what we learned
Despite a desire for a more holistic yet convenient healthcare experience, consumers say they’re not getting what they want from basic care, and the gaps are widening between what they expect and what their doctors and hospitals provide.
Respondents across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Sweden, China and Japan—representing diverse cultures, economies and health systems—all want care that’s more streamlined, connected and trusted to work in their best interests.
Aware they have some choice, people are becoming increasingly selective about if and how they engage with healthcare systems to manage a range of non-urgent health needs.
The results of the ZS Future of Health Survey show why more than 9,500 healthcare consumers across six major economies are frustrated with how healthcare works today and where it’s essential to improve.
2023
Key themes
1. Healthcare frustrations are universal in 6 major economies, a significant opportunity for industry players
When individuals don’t feel cared for, they’re simply less willing to engage. And while a focus on long-term health and preventive care is a common desire, consumers’ behavior shows a different reality.
Significant numbers of people across the countries we surveyed say they don’t engage in the preventive care available to them. For example, in Germany and the U.K. nearly 70% of respondents say they skip regular
health screenings.
Inconvenience holds them back. One-fourth of adults in the U.S., Japan and China tend to avoid seeking medical care because it’s a hassle. Closer to one-third of adults across the U.K., Germany and Sweden say the same.
In five of the six surveyed countries, more than half the respondents say they only see a doctor when they are sick.
Yet, a focus on treating people only when they are sick limits return on funds invested in
improving healthcare.
Delaying care until sickness occurs is costly for both individuals and healthcare systems, limiting our ability to catch disease before it becomes serious, making it harder and more costly to treat.
Medical care, when people are already sick, can only affect outcomes by around 10%-20%. The rest is influenced by other factors, like individual behavior and attitudes and social and environmental factors.
The larger goal is to engage more people in preventive care by looking at the person and their health goals more holistically, using information from broader, contextual drivers of health.
Adults are half as likely to feel ‘cared for’ than their doctors think
Consumers
Primary care physicians
2. Consumers’ lack of engagement has a future cost
Across the board, consumers are half as likely to feel cared for after a visit than their doctors believe. While providers in every country may be genuinely caring for patients, patients aren’t feeling that connection.
Overall, this sentiment warns of growing frustration about the essential areas of healthcare that must improve for a
healthier future.
Our survey shows a growing number of consumers making proactive decisions around if and how to engage based on what works best for them in their individual lives.
Across China and Germany, for example, 42% of adults under age 35 identify the pharmacy as their first choice for where to go when they need healthcare. In other studies, nearly nine in 10 U.S. adults and seven in 10 adults in the APAC region say they turn to Google before they seek help from a doctor.
3. Consumers keep moving toward convenience, breaking the industry’s notion of a typical healthcare journey
The risk and opportunity—especially with younger generations, whether it’s millennials or Gen Z—is that consumers will increasingly look for primary care in places that offer them the convenience and value they want.
Over time, this behavior creates more fragmented healthcare journeys. Health industry leaders will need to be much more responsive and dynamic in meeting people’s diverse needs for managing their health goals.
Consumers and their doctors overwhelmingly believe in a more connected healthcare model—one where patients have more fluid and connected relationships with their care providers and can use personal health information to partner on prevention and long-term health.
Four out of the five top benefits consumers see are personal benefits that are tech and data dependent:
4. Consumers believe a connected healthcare model is the future, but they aren’t yet seeing the value
Better diagnosis, treatment and care from seeing my full health history
More direct communication between patients and doctors
Better health by letting me monitor my health information
Better health as my healthcare provider monitors my health information
Better health by letting me monitor my health information
Improved community health and safety
Despite strong beliefs in the concept, adoption of digital health portals, apps and telehealth remains low in most countries. Here, China is the clear leader. Not only have Chinese consumers embraced self-monitoring tools at higher rates, providers are far more likely to recommend using these tools than their peers in the West.
More work is needed to convince healthcare consumers that sharing their personal health information in portals, health apps and devices gives them personal benefits.
These benefits include helping people see that they’re on track for better health and that their personal goals, concerns and habits are understood.
Overwhelmingly, consumers trust doctors, hospitals and health systems the most with personal health information. But they’ll share a surprising amount of information with others if the tradeoff for personal value (including convenience) is clear.
5. If you show them personal value consumers will respond, but trust and experience are significant variables
Better diagnosis, treatment and care from seeing my full health history
More direct communication between patients and doctors
Better health by letting me monitor my health information
Better health as my healthcare provider monitors my health information
Improved community health and safety
•
•
•
•
•
In our survey, younger generations are more likely than older generations to trust technology companies with their personal health information.
Any request for personal information must meet consumers’ high bar for an overall better healthcare experience. One pain point—the ongoing need for physicians to manage patient consent surrounding health information—trickles down into the consumer experience.
When the system fails to streamline ongoing consent in digital ways, patients must repeat information, fill out redundant forms and second guess what the doctor knows about them.
When it comes to how connected healthcare may support efforts to address health equity, we see what we expected: A pattern where attributes like trust, access to healthcare and insurance coverage intersect in complex ways with categories like willingness to share personal health information, race, income, age, chronic illness and gender.
In five of the six countries polled, nearly half of respondents said they feel like the healthcare system “doesn’t care about people like me”—a broad sentiment we see as keeping a wide range of people from engaging regardless of who they are. Within this number, we see respondents of all races, ages, incomes and health conditions.
The aim is to improve:
Insights such as how combinations of factors affect health outcomes and who is likely to have lower health outcomes.
Care expansion as one of several possible interventions that can bring healthcare closer to underserved groups through satellite physical locations, digital devices, telehealth, remote monitoring and home care.
•
•
The technology
doesn’t work well
I don’t know what to do with the data
The amount of data is overwhelming
Consent forms
are a burden
I don’t get
reimbursed
72%
80%
54%
79%
52%
57%
85%
70%
57%
74%
78%
71%
75%
66%
58%
68%
84%
71%
81%
91%
51%
80%
87%
81%
81%
92%
26%
76%
47%
86%
Q. “To what extent do you agree or disagree that each of the following are potential barriers to connected health adoption?”
Base: 1,003 primary care providers; U.S.=500; U.K.=101; Germany=100; Sweden=102; China=100; Japan=100.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
Japan
China
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
U.S.
Physicians’ top barriers to connected healthcare adoption
With this context:
Identify your mission and define what success could look like. Expand thinking about your role in building a truly connected ecosystem to improve healthcare holistically.
Organize for outcomes. Assess and redirect investments to support these goals and make sure your organization is operating in a way that supports connection. Focus on creating a coherent experience rather than federated approaches or
siloed efforts.
Put the consumer really and truly first. The ultimate solution is a more seamless experience similar to consumers’ daily interaction with on-demand services. There’s room to learn from those that get it right, such as industries like consumer technology.
Learn from and seek successful collaborations. Connected health is bigger than any one player. Look for and engage in meaningful partnerships with other ecosystems and industries.
Your next goal
The message from consumers is clear: Understand what we want on experience and personal value in addition to better health and reduced costs.
The technology
doesn’t work well
Lowers my costs
For safer treatments
To get tailored services
Improves my health
46%
40%
23%
36%
17%
39%
52%
51%
48%
52%
40%
39%
41%
42%
44%
38%
43%
45%
52%
56%
52%
56%
60%
54%
Q. “Which reasons would convince you to share personal health information?”
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
What makes people willing to share personal health information?
Telehealth
Digital health apps
Health portals
U.S.
U.K.
Sweden
Germany
Japan
China
Q. “To what extent does each of the following statements describe how you manage your health?”
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
China maintains the lead in solution adoption
7%
56%
34%
19%
27%
41%
14%
55%
24%
27%
26%
31%
3%
46%
15%
8%
16%
24%
6. Addressing health disparities is a wide-open field
42%
79%
Sweden
Japan
China
U.S.
U.K.
Germany
31%
77%
19%
56%
34%
75%
46%
87%
27%
46%
Q. Adult public: “How does interacting with the current healthcare system make you feel?” PCPs: “How do you think your patients feel after seeing you?"
Base: 9,517 adults and 1,003 primary care providers; U.S.=4,010; 500. U.K.=1,002; 101. Germany=1,003; 100. Sweden=501; 102. China=2,000; 100. Japan=1,001; 100.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
What’s essential to improve?
Consumers have a clear view of how the healthcare experience should improve.
Faster and more accurate diagnosis
Access healthcare anytime, anywhere
Putting a focus on long-term health
Making healthcare more affordable
Japan
China
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
U.S.
What’s essential
to improve
The cost of disengagement
Every journey
is personal
Waiting for a better future
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Equity in the connected era
Providers’ need for their own heroes
What’s next
42%
79%
31%
77%
19%
56%
34%
75%
46%
87%
27%
46%
View data %
About the survey
This survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of ZS from July to September 2022. It represents a balanced sample of adults and healthcare providers in six countries: China, Japan, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Respondents included 9,517 adults (individuals aged 18 and up) and 1,003 healthcare providers. Healthcare provider participants were all licensed medical doctors with specialties in family, general or internal medicine.
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The technology
doesn’t work well
Avoid care
due to cost
Avoid care
due to hassle
See a doctor
only when I’m sick
Skip regular
health screenings
72%
80%
54%
79%
52%
57%
21%
24%
16%
20%
13%
24%
23%
24%
27%
28%
33%
24%
50%
50%
75%
69%
78%
44%
66%
45%
71%
67%
68%
45%
Q. “To what extent does each of the following statements describe how you manage your health?”
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
Japan
China
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
U.S.
Significant numbers avoid health screenings
This sentiment underscores the opportunity to accelerate work on reducing health disparities. If the broader healthcare ecosystem can remove barriers to essential collaboration, more people can adequately understand specifically where disparities are, what contributes to them and what to do to change the outcomes.
This sentiment underscores the opportunity to accelerate work on reducing health disparities. If the broader healthcare ecosystem can remove barriers to essential collaboration, more people can adequately understand specifically where disparities are, what contributes to them and what to do to change the outcomes.
The future of healthcare already exists—but only for some
Younger generations in the
U.K. are 2x more likely than older generations to worry about unexpected medical bills.
Black consumers in the U.S. spend almost 50% longer than others traveling to access
primary care.
High-income consumers across Germany are 2.5x more likely to benefit from health portals and apps to manage their care.
Consumers identify with the personal benefits of connected health
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
Q. “What would improve the current healthcare system?”
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
U.S.
U.K.
Sweden
Germany
Japan
China
69%
66%
57%
63%
83%
44%
75%
75%
65%
64%
85%
51%
76%
71%
65%
65%
88%
52%
78%
73%
67%
68%
86%
48%
82%
81%
74%
76%
89%
57%
Improved community health and safety
Better health as my healthcare provider monitors my health information
Better health by letting me monitor my health information
More direct communication between patients and doctors
Better diagnosis,
treatment and care
Click to watch
Why the patient experience matters in promoting wellness
Preventative care is important, and so is knowing why patients rely on Google and wait until they’re sick to visit the doctor. Here we explore how meeting patients where they are can create more productive healthcare experiences.
Click to watch
How China is reducing the burden of care for consumers and physicians
In a system where resources are unevenly distributed and patients in big cities must endure long wait times, connected patient-centered health has an opportunity to bring physicians to Chinese patients looking for better experience.
Click to watch
How to create the partnerships that healthcare consumers want
Consumers in the U.K., Germany and Sweden want stronger partnerships with their healthcare providers, but physicians say a lack of time makes this difficult. Targeting specific patients can help form ideal relationships.
Click to watch
What fragmentation in healthcare is and why it matters
Patients in the U.S. are in a healthcare system where disparate solutions and low standardization can lead to frustration. Fortunately, leaders have a chance to refine the experience while continuing their tradition of innovation.
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Get your copy
Click to watch
Creating efficiency through consolidated health data
The Japanese government is using its wealth of data to empower patients with consolidated health information that’s easier to share with providers. Here’s how this can bring much needed efficiency to the healthcare system.
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Equity in the connected era
What’s next
Show me the value,
I’ll show you the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential to improve
Providers’ need for their
own heroes
Understand shifting sentiment
Act in a person’s best interest, broadly.
Use personal health information in
responsible ways.
•
•
Combined, 55% of healthcare consumers see doctors, hospitals and health systems as responsible for creating a more modern, connected healthcare system—far fewer see this as a task for the broader life sciences segment (7%), health plans (9%) or government (14%).
Provider groups are at the center of patient care. Because they’re a primary interface with patients, provider groups are more trusted by consumers than any other industry segment (including health plans, biopharma, medtech, tech or social media companies) to:
Yet today’s exponential growth of health-related data does more to overwhelm than support them, and that’s why they need outsiders and problem-solvers to help address their most immediate barriers.
Data overload is one of the top-reported reasons physicians say adoption of connected care is slow, including the use of portals, digital health apps and telehealth. Most providers say that the total administrative burden of obtaining patient consent across these tools slows progress.
Further, most don’t know how to incorporate monitoring data from medical devices or wearables that measure sleep, activity, ECGs, blood pressure and blood oxygen into their practice. Physicians lack protocols for much of this data in any standard of care.
And even in countries where providers face lower barriers for reimbursement, reimbursement alone does not address the problem of poor experiences and technology that doesn’t work well, which also tops the list from physicians about what slows their progress.
7. Providers have consumers’ trust to reshape healthcare, but they need outsiders to be problem-solvers and innovators
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This survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of ZS from July to September 2022. It represents a balanced sample of adults and healthcare providers in six countries: China, Japan, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Respondents included 9,517 adults (individuals aged 18 and up) and 1,003 healthcare providers. Healthcare provider participants were all licensed medical doctors with specialties in family, general or internal medicine.
About the survey
With this context:
Identify your mission and define what success could look like. Expand thinking about your role in building a truly connected ecosystem to improve healthcare holistically.
Organize for outcomes. Assess and redirect investments to support these goals and make sure your organization is operating in a way that supports connection. Focus on creating a coherent experience rather than federated approaches or
siloed efforts.
Put the consumer really and truly first. The ultimate solution is a more seamless experience similar to consumers’ daily interaction with on-demand services. There’s room to learn from those that get it right, such as industries like consumer technology.
Learn from and seek successful collaborations. Connected health is bigger than any one player. Look for and engage in meaningful partnerships with other ecosystems and industries.
The message from consumers is clear: Understand what we want on experience and personal value in addition to better health and reduced costs.
Understand shifting sentiment
Your next goal
Data overload is one of the top-reported reasons physicians say adoption of connected care is slow, including the use of portals, digital health apps and telehealth. Most providers say that the total administrative burden of obtaining patient consent across these tools slows progress.
Further, most don’t know how to incorporate monitoring data from medical devices or wearables that measure sleep, activity, ECGs, blood pressure and blood oxygen into their practice. Physicians lack protocols for much of this data in any standard of care.
And even in countries where providers face lower barriers for reimbursement, reimbursement alone does not address the problem of poor experiences and technology that doesn’t work well, which also tops the list from physicians about what slows their progress.
Yet today’s exponential growth of health-related data does more to overwhelm than support them, and that’s why they need outsiders and problem-solvers to help address their most immediate barriers.
Act in a person’s best interest, broadly.
Use personal health information in responsible ways.
•
•
Combined, 55% of healthcare consumers see doctors, hospitals and health systems as responsible for creating a more modern, connected healthcare system—far fewer see this as a task for the broader life sciences segment (7%), health plans (9%) or government (14%).
Provider groups are at the center of patient care. Because they’re a primary interface with patients, provider groups are more trusted by consumers than any other industry segment (including health plans, biopharma, medtech, tech or social media companies) to:
7. Providers have consumers’ trust to reshape healthcare, but they need outsiders to be problem-solvers and innovators
The technology doesn't work well
I don't know what to do with the data
The amount of data is overwhelming
Consent forms
are a burden
I don't get reimbursed
72%
80%
54%
79%
52%
57%
85%
70%
57%
74%
78%
71%
75%
66%
58%
68%
84%
71%
81%
91%
51%
80%
87%
81%
81%
92%
26%
76%
47%
86%
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
Q. “To what extent do you agree or disagree that each of the following are potential barriers to connected health adoption?”
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
Japan
China
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
U.S.
Physicians’ top barriers to connected healthcare adoption
Insights such as how combinations of factors affect health outcomes and who is likely to have lower health outcomes.
Care expansion as one of several possible interventions that can bring healthcare closer to underserved groups through satellite physical locations, digital devices, telehealth, remote monitoring and home care.
This sentiment underscores the opportunity to accelerate work on reducing health disparities. If the broader healthcare ecosystem can remove barriers to essential collaboration, more people can adequately understand specifically where disparities are, what contributes to them and what to do to change the outcomes.
•
•
The aim is to improve:
This sentiment underscores the opportunity to accelerate work on reducing health disparities. If the broader healthcare ecosystem can remove barriers to essential collaboration, more people can adequately understand specifically where disparities are, what contributes to them and what to do to change the outcomes.
When it comes to how connected healthcare may support efforts to address health equity, we see what we expected: A pattern where attributes like trust, access to healthcare and insurance coverage intersect in complex ways with categories like willingness to share personal health information, race, income, age, chronic illness and gender.
In five of the six countries polled, nearly half of respondents said they feel like the healthcare system “doesn’t care about people like me”—a broad sentiment we see as keeping a wide range of people from engaging regardless of who they are. Within this number, we see respondents of all races, ages, incomes and health conditions.
6. Addressing health disparities is a
wide-open field
The future of healthcare already exists—but only for some
High-income consumers across Germany are 2.5x more likely to benefit from health portals and apps to manage their care.
Black consumers in the U.S. spend almost 50% longer than others traveling to access primary care.
Younger generations in the U.K. are 2x more likely than older generations to worry about unexpected medical bills.
Why the patient experience matters in promoting wellness
More work is needed to convince healthcare consumers that sharing their personal health information in portals, health apps and devices gives them personal benefits.
These benefits include helping people see that they’re on track for better health and that their personal goals, concerns and habits are understood.
Overwhelmingly, consumers trust doctors, hospitals and health systems the most with personal health information. But they’ll share a surprising amount of information with others if the tradeoff for personal value (including convenience) is clear.
In our survey, younger generations are more likely than older generations to trust technology companies with their personal health information.
Any request for personal information must meet consumers’ high bar for an overall better healthcare experience. One pain point—the ongoing need for physicians to manage patient consent surrounding health information—trickles down into the consumer experience.
When the system fails to streamline ongoing consent in digital ways, patients must repeat information, fill out redundant forms and second guess what the doctor knows about them.
5. If you show them personal value consumers
will respond, but trust and experience are
significant variables
Lowers my costs
For safer treatments
To get tailored services
Improves my health
46%
40%
23%
36%
17%
39%
52%
51%
48%
52%
40%
39%
41%
42%
44%
38%
43%
45%
52%
56%
52%
56%
60%
54%
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
Q. “Which reasons would convince you to share personal health information?”
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
Japan
China
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
U.S.
What makes people willing to share personal
health information?
How to create the partnerships that healthcare consumers want
Better diagnosis, treatment and care from seeing my full health history
More direct communication between patients and doctors
Better health by letting me monitor my health information
Better health as my healthcare provider monitors my health information
Improved community health and safety
•
•
•
•
•
Consumers and their doctors overwhelmingly believe in a more connected healthcare model—one where patients have more fluid and connected relationships with their care providers and can use personal health information to partner on prevention and long-term health.
Four out of the five top benefits consumers see are personal benefits that are tech and data dependent:
Despite strong beliefs in the concept, adoption of digital health portals, apps and telehealth remains low in most countries. Here, China is the clear leader. Not only have Chinese consumers embraced self-monitoring tools at higher rates, providers are far more likely to recommend using these tools than their peers in the West.
4. Consumers believe a connected healthcare model is the future, but they aren’t yet seeing the value
U.S.
U.K.
Sweden
Germany
Japan
China
Q. “To what extent does each of the following statements describe how you manage your health?”
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
China maintains the lead in solution adoption
7%
56%
34%
19%
27%
41%
14%
55%
24%
27%
26%
31%
3%
46%
15%
8%
16%
24%
Telehealth
Digital health apps
Health portals
Consumers identify with the personal benefits of connected health
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
Q. “What would improve the current healthcare system?”
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
U.S.
U.K.
Sweden
Germany
Japan
China
69%
66%
57%
63%
83%
44%
75%
75%
65%
64%
85%
51%
76%
71%
65%
65%
88%
52%
78%
73%
67%
68%
86%
48%
82%
81%
74%
76%
89%
57%
Improved community health and safety
Better health as my healthcare provider monitors my health information
Better health by letting me monitor my health information
More direct communication between patients and doctors
Better diagnosis,
treatment and care
How China is reducing the burden of care for
consumers and physicians
Our survey shows a growing number of consumers making proactive decisions around if and how to engage based on what works best for them in their individual lives.
Across China and Germany, for example, 42% of adults under age 35 identify the pharmacy as their first choice for where to go when they need healthcare. In other studies, nearly nine in 10 U.S. adults and seven in 10 adults in the APAC region say they turn to Google before they seek help from a doctor.
The risk and opportunity—especially with younger generations, whether it’s millennials or Gen Z—is that consumers will increasingly look for primary care in places that offer them the convenience and value they want.
Over time, this behavior creates more fragmented healthcare journeys. Health industry leaders will need to be much more responsive and dynamic in meeting people’s diverse needs for managing their health goals.
3. Consumers keep moving toward convenience, breaking the industry’s notion of a typical healthcare journey
What fragmentation in healthcare is and why it matters
Patients in the U.S. are in a healthcare system where disparate solutions and low standardization can lead to frustration. Fortunately, leaders have a chance to refine the experience while continuing their tradition of innovation.
When individuals don’t feel cared for, they’re simply less willing to engage. And while a focus on long-term health and preventive care is a common desire, consumers’ behavior shows a different reality.
Significant numbers of people across the countries we surveyed say they don’t engage in the preventive care available to them. For example, in Germany and the U.K. nearly 70% of respondents say they skip regular health screenings.
Inconvenience holds them back. One-fourth of adul
ts in the U.S., Japan and China tend to avoid seeking medical care because it’s a hassle. Closer to one-third of adults across the U.K., Germany and Sweden say the same.
In five of the six surveyed countries, more than half the respondents say they only see a doctor when they are sick.
Yet, a focus on treating people only when they are sick limits return on funds invested in improving healthcare.
Delaying care until sickness occurs is costly for both individuals and healthcare systems, limiting our ability to catch disease before it becomes serious, making it harder and more costly to treat.
Medical care, when people are already sick, can only affect outcomes by around 10%-20%. The rest is influenced by other factors, like individual behavior and attitudes and social and environmental factors.
The larger goal is to engage more people in preventive care by looking at the person and their health goals more holistically, using information from broader, contextual drivers of health.
2. Consumers’ lack of engagement has a future cost
The technology
doesn’t work well
Avoid care
due to cost
Avoid care
due to hassle
See a doctor
only when I’m sick
Skip regular
health screenings
72%
80%
54%
79%
52%
57%
21%
24%
16%
20%
13%
24%
23%
24%
27%
28%
33%
24%
50%
50%
75%
69%
78%
44%
66%
45%
71%
67%
68%
45%
Q. “To what extent does each of the following statements describe how you manage your health?”
Base: 9,517; U.S.=4,010; U.K.=1,002; Germany=1,003; Sweden=501; China=2,000; Japan=1,001.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
Japan
China
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
U.S.
Significant numbers avoid health screenings
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The Japanese government is using its wealth of data to empower patients with consolidated health information that’s easier to share with providers. Here’s how this can bring much needed efficiency to the healthcare system.
Across the board, consumers are half as likely to feel cared for after a visit than their doctors believe. While providers in every country may be genuinely caring for patients, patients aren’t feeling that connection.
Overall, this sentiment warns of growing frustration about the essential areas of healthcare that must improve for a healthier future.
1. Healthcare frustrations are universal in 6 major economies, a significant opportunity for industry players
Adults are half as likely to feel ‘cared for’ than their doctors think
Consumers
Primary care physicians
Sweden
Japan
China
U.S.
U.K.
Germany
Q. Adult public: “How does interacting with the current healthcare system make you feel?” PCPs: “How do you think your patients feel after seeing you?"
Base: 9,517 adults and 1,003 primary care providers; U.S.=4,010; 500. U.K.=1,002; 101. Germany=1,003; 100. Sweden=501; 102. China=2,000; 100. Japan=1,001; 100.
Source: ZS Future of Health Survey
42%
79%
77%
31%
19%
56%
34%
75%
27%
46%
46%
87%
ZS Future of
Health Report
Our 6-country Future of Health
survey reveals what people want
from the healthcare system.
Key themes
2023
What’s essential
to improve
The cost of disengagement
Every journey
is personal
Waiting for a better future
Show me the value, I’ll show you the data
Equity in the connected era
Providers’ need for their own heroes
What’s next
Despite a desire for a more holistic yet convenient healthcare experience, consumers say they’re not getting what they want from basic care, and the gaps are widening between what they expect and what their doctors and hospitals provide.
Respondents across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Sweden, China and Japan—representing diverse cultures, economies and health systems—all want care that’s more streamlined, connected and trusted to work in their best interests.
Aware they have some choice, people are becoming increasingly selective about if and how they engage with healthcare systems to manage a range of non-urgent health needs.
The results of the ZS Future of Health Survey show why more than 9,500 healthcare consumers across six major economies are frustrated with how healthcare works today and where it’s essential to improve.
What’s essential to improve?
Faster and more accurate diagnosis
Access healthcare anytime, anywhere
Putting a focus on long-term health
Making healthcare more affordable
Consumers have a clear view of how the healthcare experience should improve.
Share
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
What’s next
Providers’ need for their own heroes
Equity in the connected era
Show me the value,
I’ll show you
the data
Waiting for a better future
Every journey
is personal
The cost of disengagement
What’s essential
to improve
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