Changing Patient Communications Preferences And The Race For Providers To Adapt

The Japanese scholar Kakuzō Okakura once said, “The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.” Or to put it in more colloquial terms—change sucks, but it’s a part of life, so deal with it.

It’s remarkable that even in our fast-paced, on-demand digital world where seemingly constant shifts require us to continually adapt and adjust, some changes are just more arduous than others. Take, for example, the rollercoaster we’ve been on for the past year and a half because of the COVID pandemic. The collective sucker punch to humanity’s gut has forced us to reexamine how we respond to massive, life-changing events and circumstances which jeopardize the entire planet.

In the silver lining department, however, it’s also given us a chance to reevaluate our lives and our priorities. This includes everything from where and how we work, how we spend our free time, how we approach our finances, and how we view the role of healthcare in our lives.

But in a post-pandemic reality, we often forget the unseen damage the threat of the virus inflicted on patients who deferred care because they felt it wasn’t safe to make a doctor’s visit. A recent poll found 66 percent of patients delayed or canceled medical appointments during COVID, mainly due to fear of getting infected. Eighty-three percent of those who postponed care were due for preventive screenings and chronic care management for things like cancer, lung disease, and diabetes. Those gaps in care are extremely costly both for individual outcomes and in the compounded medical expenses from delayed care.