DIY Healthcare –where brands can help consumers

In these difficult times there are alarming concerns of how people are managing their health.

There is a growing trend toward do-it-yourself health especially among young adults in the US. A larger number of 20 somethings are uninsured, and as more people lose their jobs, these numbers are increasing dramatically.

With costs of insurance premiums, and out of pocket health care costs rising at alarming rates, people are taking their own health into their own hands.

People are self-diagnosing, using the Internet and social media networks or skipping doses to make prescriptions last. These are just some of the solutions that 13.2 m young people (aged 19-29) without health insurance have applied. Others are focusing on being healthier as a means of preventing illness – which is a good thing, but if a serious condition emerges then there are serious implications.

Health professional are increasingly concerned with not only potential mis-diagnosis, but also with where people are cutting costs. People may treat themselves less regularly, leading to potential health problems down the track.

The effects of this can be staggering from a social and economic cost perspective leading to reduced productivity as well as complications generating huge costs.

This behaviour is leading to decreasing number of patient visits and increased patient reluctance to take prescription medicine due to costs, but is also influenced by lack of clarity of why they need medication quite often.

This provides a huge opportunity for healthcare companies to support, inform, educate and influence consumers to make better decisions about their health.

Brands need to help consumers manage their health but by doing so build trusting relationships and build real utility throughout their connections with consumers.

Mobile can play a key role in this process. 

Mobile is a great way for healthcare brands to engage with patients and consumers.  Mobile can deliver real utility for consumers – things like key information and education on why they need to medicate, mobile coupons that can be redeemed directly at pharmacies for money off prescriptions or timely reminders that people need to refill their prescriptions to drive compliance and adherence.

Healthcare brands have an opportunity to tap into the behavior of the mobile lifestyle of the consumer delivering relevant key information that can be actioned in the right context, and at the right time and location.

Imagine receiving ongoing dialogue from a hayfever brand through a mobile web site or text that is providing education, daily alerts on air quality or pollen levels so that you prevent an episode, receiving money off coupons against the brand and timely reminders to refill your prescription.  That’s real value to a hayfever sufferer and I should know!

To an audience that is already heavily managing its health online, mobile can deliver real value for brands targeting a group born with a mouse in one hand and a mobile in the other.

image via Flickr