74% of baby boomers are worried about artificial intelligence (AI) providing an incorrect diagnosis vs. their doctor’s recommendation — something only 60% of millennials were worried about, according to recent findings from the Salesforce 2017 Connected Patient Report. Conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Salesforce from May 4-8, 2017, the survey reveals that AI in healthcare is an area of both optimism and concern among baby boomers and millennials.
When asked about currently available AI-related healthcare apps, baby boomers (28%) were significantly less likely than millennials (63%) to agree that they are interested in a digital assistant like Siri or Alexa recommending personalized healthy habits, similar to how online retailers recommend things to buy based on purchase history.
Other key findings from the 2017 Connected Patient Report include current barriers and frustrations patients have with physicians, healthcare providers and healthcare technology:
Doctor-patient communication today is still one-sided and antiquated.
– A majority of Americans currently communicate with their doctors via traditional channels to schedule appointments, with 80% using the phone.
– Three in five Americans who have health insurance and a primary care doctor (60%) say they rely on their doctor to keep track of their health records.
– 28% of patients keep their health records in a folder, shoebox, lockbox, drawer or other home-based physical storage method – nearly the same amount (29%) that use a single self-service portal provided by their healthcare and/or insurance provider.
Insurance companies are an important resource to patients seeking care.
– Millennials are more than three times as likely than baby boomers (26% vs. 7%) to use their insurance companies to find healthcare providers.
– Nearly three in four Americans (72%) say it’s important that their health insurance providers use modern tools — such as live chat/instant message and two-way video — when communicating with them.
Pharmaceutical companies have an opportunity to engage with patients in new ways.
– Nearly three in four (72%) respondents agree that they would choose drugs from pharmaceutical companies that are engaged in their outcomes vs. those who are not.
– Three in five Americans are open to virtual support service options (e.g., video conference calls) with pharmaceutical companies to help them understand medications. This is especially true with millennials, as 70% want to leverage these modern technologies to communicate with their drug providers.
– More than four in five Americans (83%) — and 88% of millennials — would share their experiences and direct feedback about medications with a pharmaceutical company to help improve their abilities to develop and support new medications.
