2021 PATIENT ACCESS JOURNEY REPORT

Our 5th annual patient access survey of 1,000 people shows that consumers increasingly utilize, and prefer, digital access channels—a consistent trend over the past five years. The findings also illuminate the multitude of factors consumers consider when looking for a new provider or service, where they go for information, and trends in how they prefer to book appointments.

Key findings include:

• Nearly 60% of consumers conduct research online when looking for a new provider; a similar share also go online when seeking a healthcare service or care site (e.g., vaccines, testing, imaging, urgent care)
• When researching new providers online, 60% of consumers consult a healthcare organization website and 52% visit a health plan website (+12% vs. 2020)
• 40% of consumers now prefer to book appointments online—up 15 percentage points over the past five years

For more on healthcare consumers’ research behavior and decision-making—including new insights about the role of cost transparency in care decisions—download the report.