Why It's Important for Your Medical Practice to Serve Baby Boomers Well

Delivering allied healthcare to patients means identifying what they need and having the infrastructure in place to deliver it. As baby boomers—those born roughly between 1946 and 1964—hit retirement age and beyond, they expect progressive care from medical practices like yours. Are you prepared to best serve this portion of the population?

Besides business insurance for allied health, research shows that your practice will benefit from adopting convenient telecommunication methods to keep patients in the loop. Here’s why it’s so important for your medical practice to serve baby boomers well, and how to do so.

Baby Boomers Switching Healthcare Providers

According to a recent survey from Solutionreach, 20 percent of baby boomer patients are somewhat likely to change physicians within the next few years, and 35 percent have already switched in the last two years. Why? In part because across the board, “patients want to have more meaningful, convenient, and efficient experiences.” And, as the data shows, they’ll switch healthcare providers if they don’t get them.

Medical practices of all shapes and sizes should take note. Morgan Stanley points out that the greatest “boom” for baby boomers may be healthcare. After all, they are expected to spend 3.4 percent more on healthcare than their parents did; estimates suggest they will spend two to three times more on healthcare than millennials. Failure to serve baby boomers well will affect your reputation and your bottom line.

What Baby Boomers Want

It turns out that over half of baby boomers want online, email and text communication options, plain and simple. Is your allied healthcare practice currently offering these options? Anything you can do to make scheduling and communication easier will go a long way satisfying patients of any age, including those nearing or in retirement. Telecommunications in medicine, if implemented in a secure and compliant manner, can help you forge immediate relationships with your patients, lessening the chances they will jump to another practice in search of convenience and clarity.

Unique Growth Opportunities in Allied Health

As baby boomers age, they will also require more specialty care. For example, the projected growth rate for physical therapists is 36 percent over 10 years; 41 percent for physical therapist assistants. As the longevity of the human lifespan increases over time thanks to modern medicine, the need for long-term care also rises. Patients will need help from a variety of allied healthcare providers for help alleviating pain, treating chronic illness and assisting in mobility.

Your practice can start preparing now to best serve this aging population by updating your communications practices to include secure online correspondence, as well as making your practice accessible and welcoming to baby boomers. Remember: If your practice can’t meet baby boomers’ wants and needs, they’re not afraid to leave.

Providing patients of all ages with what they need depends on having the right infrastructure in place. Implementing secure, HIPAA-compliant telecommunications will ensure that your communications are up-to-date, while business insurance for allied health can protect your organization and your patients overall. Explore policy options with CoverHound.