What’s Your Healthcare Organization’s Mobile Readiness?

New Survey Data Reveals Growing Number of “Health-Sumers” Engage Using Mobile Devices

// By Ken Robbins //

The Internet offers a vast universe of information for consumers to sink their teeth into, and one area where that appetite has proven to be insatiable is healthcare. In a June 2016 survey of 1,000 consumers conducted by Response Mine Interactive (RMI), 78 percent said they seek symptom-related information online. The media have picked up on the trend, alternately urging caution (Business Insider warns “Here’s Why Googling Your Symptoms is a Terrible Idea“), or expressing enthusiasm (Time concludes “Googling Symptoms Helps Patients and Doctors“).

Googling symptoms is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the types of health and wellness information today’s consumers seek online. Peer-reviewed research studies, patient support forums, fitness groups on social media, and alternative medicine web portals are just a sampling of the healthcare information resources available online. But it’s not only the volume and variety of information that is changing the paradigm in healthcare. It’s the shift to mobile. The biggest boom is that people are gobbling up this information from mobile devices.

Is your organization a leader or a follower when it comes to mobile? As consumers ourselves, we have grown to expect great mobile experiences. We gravitate toward businesses and service providers that offer it—and away from those that don’t. (How many apps have you installed, and then deleted when they failed to give you the ease and convenience you were looking for? Running out of fingers?) Healthcare is no exception. Health-sumers may grow weary of your outmoded methods of communicating with them. They may find your competitor’s capabilities more attractive. In the article that follows, Response Mine Interactive CEO Ken Robbins shares survey results that reveal a growing need to raise your game when it comes to mobile, and recommends some ways you can increase your mobile fitness level—and reap the rewards.

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