• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

  • Opinion
  • Health IT
    • Behavioral Health
    • Care Coordination
    • EMR/EHR
    • Interoperability
    • Patient Engagement
    • Population Health Management
    • Revenue Cycle Management
    • Social Determinants of Health
  • Digital Health
    • AI
    • Blockchain
    • Precision Medicine
    • Telehealth
    • Wearables
  • Startups
  • M&A
  • Value-based Care
    • Accountable Care (ACOs)
    • Medicare Advantage
  • Life Sciences
  • Research

Average Frequency of Digital Health Consumer Activities

by Jasmine Pennic 08/11/2014 Leave a Comment

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print

Parks Associates responds to criticism with more context on the average frequency of digital health consumer activities

Last week, Parks Associates released an infographic illustrating the top digital health consumer activities of U.S. broadband consumers over the past 12 months. Based on the key findings from a survey fielded to heads-of-broadband-households in the U.S. in Q4 2013, the survey found:

– 38 percent of consumers looking up health information online

– 22 percent of consumers are using a device to track their health patterns

After Matthew Holt at Health 2.0 expressed concerns that their figures stated above were too low in comparison to Pew Research’s Health Online 2013 report finding of 72 percent of consumers looking up health information online, Parks Associates decided to drill down a little further to provide more context behind their survey methodology. 

Average Frequency of Digital Health Consumer Activities

Pew Research vs Park Associates Findings

In their response, Jennifer Kent stated: “our survey found that, of the digital health activities tested, consumers most frequently use their health apps, use their tracking devices, and look up health information online or through apps. Activities that involved care providers and health insurers are far less frequent, which makes sense given these interactions are more episodic in nature.”

Park Associates provided the following two reasons why their figure is much lower than Pew Research’s report:

– The question breaks out into different “activities” some of the information areas that the Pew study incorporates into one figure – for instance, Parks Associates separates the action of visiting a care provider or health insurer’s website into its own option.

 

– Parks Associates asks respondents to specify the number of days on which an activity was performed in the past year. This question form requires a bit more commitment from respondents than a basic yes/no question in that it requires respondents to not only think about whether they did an activity, but how often.

 

Parks Associates did conclude that the actual percentage of U.S. consumers who look up a broad range of health information online to be likely higher than 38% based on these considerations. 

 

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print

Tap Native

Get in-depth healthcare technology analysis and commentary delivered straight to your email weekly

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to HIT Consultant

Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox weekly.

Submit a Tip or Pitch

Featured Insights

 Selecting the Right EMR: A Practical Guide to Streamlining Your Practice and Enhancing Patient Care

Selecting the Right EMR: A Practical Guide to Streamlining Your Practice and Enhancing Patient Care

Featured Interview

Virta Health CEO: GLP-1s Didn’t Kill Weight Watchers, Its Broken Model Did

Most-Read

Digital Health Faces Q2'25 Pullback: Funding Falls to 5-Year Low, But AI Dominates and $1B+ IPOs Emerge

Healthcare Investment Shifts in 1H 2025: AI Remains a Bright Spot Amidst Fundraising Decline

Digital Health Faces Q2'25 Pullback: Funding Falls to 5-Year Low

Digital Health Faces Q2’25 Pullback: Funding Falls to 5-Year Low

Beyond the Hype: Building AI Systems in Healthcare Where Hallucinations Are Not an Option

Beyond the Hype: Building AI Systems in Healthcare Where Hallucinations Are Not an Option

Health IT Sector Navigates Policy Turbulence with Resilient M&A

Health IT’s New Chapter: IPOs Return, Resilient M&A, Valuations Rise in 1H 2025

PwC Report: US Medical Cost Trend to Remain Elevated at 8.5% in 2026

PwC Report: US Medical Cost Trend to Remain Elevated at 8.5% in 2026

Philips Launches ECG AI Marketplace, Partnering with Anumana to Enhance Cardiac Care with AI-Powered Diagnostics

Philips Launches ECG AI Marketplace, Partnering with Anumana to Enhance Cardiac Care with AI-Powered Diagnostics

WeightWatchers Emerges from Bankruptcy, Launches New Menopause Program

WeightWatchers Emerges from Bankruptcy, Launches New Menopause Program

CMS Finalizes New Interoperability and Prior Authorization Rule

CMS Proposes 2026 Physician Fee Schedule Rule: Boosting Primary Care, Cutting Waste, and Modernizing Payments

Beyond SaaS: How Agent as a Service is Transforming Healthcare Automation

Beyond SaaS: How Agent as a Service is Transforming Healthcare Automation

New Strategies Needed: No Surprises Act and the Challenges for Payors with Provider Data Inaccuracies

Secondary Sidebar

Footer

Company

  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Reprints and Permissions
  • Submit An Op-Ed
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Editorial Coverage

  • Opinion
  • Health IT
    • Care Coordination
    • EMR/EHR
    • Interoperability
    • Population Health Management
    • Revenue Cycle Management
  • Digital Health
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Blockchain Tech
    • Precision Medicine
    • Telehealth
    • Wearables
  • Startups
  • Value-Based Care
    • Accountable Care
    • Medicare Advantage

Connect

Subscribe to HIT Consultant Media

Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox weekly

Copyright © 2025. HIT Consultant Media. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy |