••• health care research
The virtual doctor will see you now
Growing comfort with digital health care
Growing consumer demand for digital-based health services is ushering in a new model for care in which patients and machines are joining doctors as part of the health care delivery team, according to results of a survey from Accenture.
The survey of 2,301 U.S. respondents suggests that consumers are becoming more accepting of machines – ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to virtual clinicians and home-based diagnostics – having a significantly greater role in their overall medical care. For example, one in five respondents (19 percent) said they have already used AI-powered health care services and most said they are likely to use AI-enabled clinical services, such as home-based diagnostics (cited by 66 percent of respondents), virtual health assistants (61 percent) and virtual nurses that monitor health conditions, medications and vital signs at home (55 percent).
“Driven by experiences outside of health care, consumers increasingly expect to use digital technologies to control when, where and how they receive care services,” says Kaveh Safavi, who leads Accenture’s health practice globally. “By harnessing digital technologies in this way, health care will increasingly tap digital technologies to empower human judgment, free up clinician time and personalize care services to put control in the patients’ hands.”
The survey results also show that consumers are increasingly using a variety of digital self-service tools for managing their health. Use of mobile and tablet health apps has tripled over the past four years, from 16 percent in 2014 to 48 percent today. For example, more than four in 10 respondents (44 percent) said they have accessed their electronic health records (EHRs) over the past year via patient portals, primarily to get information on lab and blood-test results (cited by 67 percent of respondents who accessed their EHRs this past year), view physician notes regarding medical visits (55 percent) and view their prescription history (41 percent).
Similarly, the use of wearable devices by consumers has nearly quadrupled in the past four years, from just 9 percent in 2014 to 33 percent today. Roughly three-fourths of health consumers view wearables – such as those that monitor glucose, heart rate, physical activity and sleep – as beneficial to understanding their health condition (75 percent), engaging with their health (73 percent) and monitoring the health of a loved one (73 percent). “The more accustomed health care consumers become to using wearables and other smart technologies, the more open they are to sharing the personal health data these tools collect,” Safavi says.
For instance, 90 percent of survey participants said they are willing to share personal data with their doctor and 88 percent said they are willing to share personal data with a nurse or other health care professional. Additionally, the percentage of consumers willing to share with their insurance carrier personal data collected from their wearable devices has increased over the past year, from 63 percent in 2016 to 72 percent today. They also are more willing to share such data and with online communities or other app users – 47 percent today, compared with 38 percent in 2016. Fewer are willing to share data with their employer (38 percent) or a government agency (41 percent).
The survey also found that consumers are taking greater advantage of virtual services. One-quarter (25 percent) of respondents said they had received virtual care services in the previous year, up from 21 percent in last year’s survey. In addition, one in six (16 percent) of those consumers said they are taking part in remote health consultations, compared with 12 percent in 2016, and 14 percent are participating in remote monitoring, up from 9 percent in 2016.
Three-quarters (74 percent) of respondents said they were satisfied with the virtual care they have received, with nearly half (47 percent) of those respondents saying that, given a choice, they would prefer a more immediate virtual medical appointment over a delayed in-person appointment.
More than half (54 percent) of survey respondents said they believe that virtual care reduces medical costs to patients and 43 percent said they like the timely care that virtual technology provides.
The majority of health care consumers said they would use virtual care for a variety of activities, from e-medical visits to medical diagnosis and group therapy. For instance, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents said they would use virtual care for after-hours (nights and weekend) appointments, 71 percent said they would use virtual care for taking a class on a specific medical condition and two-thirds (65 percent) said they would use virtual care for a follow-up appointment after seeing a health professional in person. Most respondents said they would also use virtual care for a range of additional services, including discussing specific health concerns with medical professionals (cited by 73 percent of respondents), in-home follow-up after a hospital stay (62 percent), participating in a family member’s medical appointment (59 percent) and being examined for a non-emergency condition (57 percent).
The findings cited here relate to the U.S. portion of a seven-country survey that Accenture commissioned as part of its 2018 Consumer Survey on Digital Health report. The purpose of the survey – of 7,905 consumers ages 18 and older, including 2,301 from the U.S. – was to assess consumer attitudes toward health care technology, modernization and service innovation. The survey was conducted by Longitude on behalf of Accenture between October 2017 and January 2018.
••• demographic research
Motherhood coming later
Pew tracks fertility trends
The share of U.S. women at the end of their childbearing years who have ever given birth was higher in 2016 than it had been 10 years earlier, according to a 2018 report by Gretchen Livingston of Pew Research. Some 86 percent of women ages 40 to 44 are mothers, compared with 80 percent in 2006, based on a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The share of women in this age group who are mothers is similar to what it was in the early 1990s.
Not only are women more likely to be mothers than in the past but they are having more children. Overall, women have 2.07 children during their lives on average – up from 1.86 in 2006, the lowest number on record. And among those who are mothers, family size has also ticked up. In 2016, mothers at the end of their childbearing years had had about 2.42 children, compared with a low of 2.31 in 2008.
The recent rise in motherhood and fertility might seem to run counter to the notion that the U.S. is experiencing a post-recession “Baby Bust.” However, each trend is based on a different type of measurement. The analysis here is based on a cumulative measure of lifetime fertility, the number of births a woman has ever had; reports of declining U.S. fertility are based on annual rates, which capture fertility at one point in time.
One factor driving down annual fertility rates is that women are becoming mothers later in life: The median age at which women become mothers in the U.S. is 26, compared with 23 in 1994. This change has been driven in part by declines in births to teens. In the mid-1990s, about one-in-five women in their early 40s (22 percent) had had a child prior to age 20; in 2014, that share had dropped to 13 percent. And delays in childbearing have continued among women in their 20s: While slightly more than half (53 percent) of women in their early 40s in 1994 had become mothers by age 24, this share was 39 percent among those who were in this age group in 2014.
The Great Recession intensified this shift toward later motherhood, which has been driven in the longer term by increases in educational attainment and women’s labor force participation, as well as delays in marriage. Given these social and cultural shifts, it seems likely that the postponement of childbearing will continue. But will the recent annual declines in fertility lead U.S. women to have smaller families in the future? It is difficult to know, but comparing the lifetime fertility of women who just recently completed their childbearing years with those 20 years earlier suggests that postponing births does not necessarily equate with lower lifetime fertility.
••• television research
Americans give PBS high marks
Public money well-spent
For 15 consecutive years, Americans have named PBS and its member stations No. 1 in public trust among nationally known institutions, according to a nationwide survey. PBS led other sectors of the media and government in the annual ranking, including digital platforms, commercial cable and broadcast television, courts of law, newspapers and social media.
Nearly eight in 10 respondents (78 percent) agreed that local PBS member stations provide an excellent value to their communities. In addition, PBS and member stations rank second only to the country’s military defense in terms of value for taxpayer dollars, with 65 percent of respondents calling it a “good” or “excellent” value. The vast majority of federal funding for public media, amounting to approximately $1.35 per citizen, goes directly to local stations.
Parents rated PBS KIDS the No. 1 educational media brand for children, with the brand significantly outscoring cable and commercial broadcast television networks. Parents also said PBS KIDS was the top provider of content that helps prepare children for success in school and models positive social and emotional behaviors. In addition, PBS KIDS outperformed other providers as “a trusted and safe source” for children to watch television or play digital games and mobile apps, with content that is grounded in educational objectives. These findings closely follow the one-year anniversary of the launch of the 24/7 PBS KIDS channel and live stream, which is provided by member stations and now available to more than 95 percent of U.S. TV households.
In addition, 42 percent of respondents said it is “very important” for PBS to be available to every American, compared to those who said the same for commercial broadcast television (36 percent) and commercial cable television (21 percent).
Sixty-nine percent of parents with kids age 18 and under named PBS KIDS the most educational media brand, outscoringthe second-most highly rated kids brand, Disney Channel, which was considered most educational by 6 percent.
Eighty-seven percent of parents with kids under 18 agreed that PBS KIDS helps prepare children for success in school, ahead of Universal Kids (68 percent), Disney Jr. (66 percent) and Disney Channel (54 percent).
Eighty-eight percent of parents with kids under 18 agreed that PBS KIDS is “a trusted and safe source for children to watch television, or play digital games and mobile apps.”The brand outranked other choices such as Disney Jr. (77 percent), Disney Channel (77 percent) and Universal Kids (72 percent).
The survey was developed by PBS and conducted online within the U.S. by Marketing & Research Resources Inc. on behalf of PBS from January 4-9, 2018, among 1,025 adults ages 18 and older. The sample included 495 men and 530 women. Survey results are weighted to be nationally representative of the U.S. adult population.
••• automotive research
Online auto shoppers worth targeting
Tech-savvy and tech-ready
According to Nielsen Scarborough, almost 22 million Americans took to the Web during the past 12 months to research and shop for a vehicle. For automotive manufacturers and dealers, a strong digital strategy is no longer a “nice to have” – now, it’s a necessity. To create that strategy, they must understand the online auto researcher audience and create content that will engage them.
To get a glimpse under the hood, Scarborough examined the demographics and behaviors of online auto researchers, adults 18 and older who meet two key criteria: they say they research and compare as many vehicles as possible before making a final purchase decision and they say they’ve shopped for a vehicle on the Internet in the past 12 months.
What is the makeup of an online auto researcher? Generationally, they cover the spectrum: 34 percent are Millennials, 29 percent are Gen Xers, 27 percent are Baby Boomers. They’re 27 percent more likely to be male and have household incomes that are $17,000 higher than the average U.S. adult. Online auto researchers span the U.S., but penetration varies with higher concentrations in Austin, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; Columbus, Ohio; Salt Lake City and Greensboro, N.C. This diversity will require content creators to step away from a one-size-fits-all strategy. But the extra effort should pay off, as online auto researchers are a lucrative consumer group. They plan to spend $4,700 more than the average adult on their next vehicle purchase and 30 percent have purchased a vehicle on the Internet during the past 12 months.
Knowing the makeup of this group is a start but developing digital content to engage and motivate them to purchase is where the rubber hits the road. To start, engage researchers with content about technology and the environment. Three-quarters (73 percent) agree they look forward to technological advances in new vehicles. They already have and expect features like back-up cameras, GPS, Blu-ray players, satellite radio, subscription safety services and wireless access. Additionally, half consider themselves more environmentally conscious than most and they’re 41 percent more likely than the average adult to own or lease a hybrid vehicle.
When it comes to motivating these consumers, feature the types of vehicles they prefer and the perks that come with them. Online auto researchers are 18 percent more likely to plan to purchase a new SUV, 58 percent more likely to own a foreign luxury vehicle and 34 percent more likely to own a domestic and/or foreign subcompact car. Synchronizing dealership and manufacturer offerings will reap benefits, as online auto researchers use both manufacturer and dealership sites/apps to gather information (29 percent say they use dealership sites/apps; 22 percent say they use manufacturer sites/apps). Dealership messaging should stress selection of vehicles, price/value, financing and warranties.
These insights were derived from Nielsen Scarborough USA+, Release 1, 2017.