he past decade has seen healthcare undergo a paradigm shift. Walking into a treatment room today, the dynamic with patients is fundamentally different from even a few years ago. No longer satisfied with passively receiving care, patients – in particular, younger generations like Gen Z – increasingly want a seat at the table. They want to be active, informed participants in all aspects of their health care. And the data backs this up. According to McKinsey, only 42% of Gen Z depend on doctors for health information, while 38% say social media is their secondary source.
We talk a lot in health care about “patient-centric” care. Traditionally, this meant putting the patient at the center of every decision, with physicians and clinicians organizing care around them. That remains foundational. But it’s time to evolve. I believe we must move beyond “patient-centric” to “evidence-based, content-centric care,” where high-quality, consistent information is the glue that binds an expanded care team – including the patient as an equal member. This transformation is not just an ideal; it’s a strategic necessity, especially as care becomes more fragmented and multidisciplinary.
Why the old model is no longer enough
Today, a typical patient’s care journey is anything but linear. They might see a nurse practitioner at an urgent care center for an acute issue, fill prescriptions at a retail pharmacy, follow up with a primary care physician (PCP), and, during an emergency, seek care in the ER. Meanwhile, overlapping teams of specialists, pharmacists, and digital health providers contribute to her care plan. Each encounter is an opportunity, but also a vulnerability.
There’s increased concern around fragmented information and inconsistent messaging. Studies show that 40–80% of medical information provided in a visit is forgotten immediately, and another chunk is misremembered – not surprising when a patient is receiving guidance from multiple, sometimes disconnected, sources. Add to this the proliferation of online health content (sometimes credible, sometimes misleading), and it’s clear why today’s patients can feel lost.
The need evidence-based, content-centric care
Here’s the core insight I’ve come to appreciate in my own practice and leadership roles:
Consistent, evidence-based content—not any single individual—is the connective tissue of great care teams.
By designing systems that prioritize universally accessible information, healthcare organizations can create a more reliable and effective patient experience. This means ensuring every team member, from pharmacists to nurse care managers, relies on the same “source of truth”—and that patients receive the same evidence-based guidance during and after every care interaction. Here’s how it works in practice:
- Consistent content across channels: All professionals, from specialists to support staff, work with the same trusted information on medication, treatment pathways, and patient education materials.
- Aligned patient information: When patients leave with instructions that match what their providers reference, trust deepens, and adherence improves.
- Accessible delivery formats: Whether through apps, patient portals, printed summaries, or interactive digital tools, information is presented in user-friendly, actionable ways.
An ever-expanding care team
Our care teams have never been larger, nor more diverse. Nurses, pharmacists, care managers, digital health professionals, retail clinicians, and even AI-powered virtual assistants all now work alongside traditional physicians. This ecosystem-wide, team-based approach is essential to manage today’s complex chronic diseases and intricate health journeys.
From data included in recent research, we know there are shifts in care delivery:
- More than 31% of UpToDate clinical support users in 2024 are non-physician care team members.
- 52%-55% growth in UpToDate usage among ambulatory clinics and non-hospital settings has been recorded, 2019-2024.
- 5%-10% is the expected growth in virtual home health and office visits by 2028.
Patients’ expectations have also evolved:
- An NHS survey from the UK showed, 40% want to play an active role in their healthcare decisions.
- Wolters Kluwer survey of patients showed 80% of patients had follow-up questions after appointments.
- From 2023-2024, there was a 9% rise in patient education usage supports the growing need for patients to have accessible, tailored guidance.
With care now spread across diverse roles and locations, ensuring consistent, evidence-based information is critical to maintaining quality and trust in healthcare delivery.
Building strategies for content-centric care teams
How, then, do we meet the evolving demands of younger, more digitally native patients, and create robust care teams that deliver on the promise of consistency?
- Standardize reliable content across all channels: Implement sources of clinical truth that span the care continuum. Whether it’s drug information, treatment guidelines, or patient education, these resources must underpin every professional’s workflow and be accessible for patients in plain, actionable language.
- Integrate with existing workflows: Embedding evidence-based content into the EHR, retail pharmacy systems, and telehealth platforms is essential. When every professional, regardless of setting, works from the same playbook, care gaps shrink.
- Expand the team to include the patient: Raise expectations for patients. Encourage their questions, provide digital tools, and offer access to clinician-reviewed materials within patient portals. When patients see the same guidance on their app or discharge instructions as they do in the care setting, trust deepens and adherence improves.
- Leverage community and technology partnerships: Work with community organizations and retail providers to extend the reach of reliable content. For rural or marginalized populations and for young digital natives alike, partnerships can bridge access gaps and build trust.
- Use enterprise analytics for quality and engagement: Monitor where information breakdowns occur. Use enterprise analytics to identify variation in care, content access, and patient outcomes. Adjust strategies to ensure the “content glue” holds fast across all patient journeys.
The Payoff
What we see when organizations commit to this strategy is compelling:
- Reduced error rates and lower preventable costs by closing gaps in medication and treatment information.
- Improved team performance through shared understanding.
- Greater patient engagement and satisfaction, especially among younger generations who expect transparency and partnership.
One testimonial that stands out comes from a cancer institute that bundled and automated oncology content for both teams and patients. By making the same trusted information available at every touchpoint, they raised the standard for education, support, and follow-up at scale. The result was fewer missed questions, more empowerment, and better health outcomes.
Looking Forward
The new model for healthcare is team-inclusive and content-centric. Young patients, with their rapidly evolving habits and expectations, are not a challenge to be managed but a catalyst for positive transformation. The sooner we make them true members of the care team and provide consistent, high-quality information at every step, the sooner we move closer to the outcomes our organizations and patients deserve.
By investing in robust, evidence-based content strategies and fostering open, team-based collaboration, we can ensure that healthcare not only meets today’s challenges but leverages them to build a better future for all.
Healthcare is at its best when everyone—not just the professionals but also the patient—is informed, empowered, and included. That’s the promise of content-centric teamwork, and it’s a future worth striving for.
About Amanda Heidemann, MD, FAAFP, FAMIA
Amanda Heidemann, MD, FAAFP, FAMIA is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Clinical Informatics, and brings her extensive experience to Wolters Kluwer and the UpToDate® team to work with health administrators and care organizations seeking clinical transformation and optimization of technology solutions. She is passionate about using technology to enhance the patient-physician relationship and to deliver high-quality healthcare.
