By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO
A city can build a safe bike lane from someone’s front door to their workplace and convert a significant number of car commuters into bike commuters. However, if a short, even 100-yard, section of the route is unfinished or challenging in any way, the percentage of riders will stay the same—as if there is no improvement. The entire route must feel safe to the novice rider. Being 95 percent finished is the same as being zero.
This observation comes from Rex Hammock, a member of Metro Nashville’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and our resident expert in all things bicycle commuting.
Something similar is happening in health information technology (HIT) aimed at customers. With the HIT industrial network encamped in Orlando this week for the HIMMS global conference, much of the discussion centers on healthcare technology that connects patients/customers to their healthcare.
The show is filled with the promise of apps that take the friction out of the experience faced by customers navigating care delivery. Delivering technology that works is essential, with a new Accenture study noting that Generation Z (born mid-1990s to early 2000s) are more likely to choose a medical provider based on their technological offerings.
Though many technology providers have done a lot of work, they haven’t built out what consultant Paul Keckley calls the “last mile.”
“Consumers are the last mile. Their interactions with the health system leave much to be desired,” he writes. “Much of HIT’s focus has been improvements among trading partners to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their transactions; the last mile has been important but arguably subordinated.”
Takeaway: Until HIT companies can build out the last mile, it will look like they’ve done nothing in the eyes of healthcare consumers, particularly young people making decisions about their care with technology at the forefront of their minds.
Photo | Getty images
About Hammock Healthcare Idea Email | This post is part of Hammock’s award-winning Idea Email series. Idea Emails are sent every other week and share one insightful marketing idea. Idea Email comes in two flavors: Original and Healthcare. To subscribe to the original Idea Email (general marketing ideas), click here . To subscribe to the Healthcare Idea Email (healthcare marketing ideas), click here.