Baby Boomers or Millennials Who is Paving the Path to Telehealth?

  The oldest baby boomers are turning 70 this year, the healthcare industry is about to see a constant influx of new people seeking to improve their safety. Because this generation consists of nearly 75 million people born between 1946 and 1964, in the coming decades a degree of health administration will be completely exploited. With this problem in mind, we are presenting a summary of the baby boomers and the healthcare industry being designed to meet their needs.

Baby Boomer’s Acceptance

Elderly patients are more satisfied with remote healthcare. Telehealth solutions have been effective in minimizing hospital visits and increasing patient satisfaction in a study conducted on home health systems for elder patients who are also known as baby boomers. 

Health Concerns for Baby Boomers

Higher rates of diabetes and obesity are the overall health issues of baby boomers, which can put a burden on the healthcare industry forever. Most baby boomers between 50 and 64 already have one chronic condition, according to the Trust for the welfare of America.  While smoking was less common with baby boomers, there was no increase in physical activity. If a baby boomer replaces their regular diet with a cheeseburger, sugar-rich fruits, or sodas, their future outlook may not be too good.

Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs 

When it comes to specific cancer treatments, baby boomers are part of the “leading edge.” Today’s drugs are not only more effective in the fight against cancer, but they are also far less toxic than decades earlier cancer treatments. The end result contributes to comprehensive cancer eradication strategies with the ability to address each individual’s different forms of cancer.

Medication Reminder Tools 

Forgetting which medications they need to take or which medicines they have already taken can be easy for a Baby Boomer. Missed medications may result in additional health conditions or may require hospitalization in serious circumstances where a dose is missing.

Avoiding Transport, Lowering Patient Costs

Doctors and Baby Boomerspatients both need healthcare that is secure. A condition that involves travel to a remote hospital in the past can now be easily diagnosed and treated at two kilometers away by specialists. The immediate needs of the patient are met without hundreds of thousands of transport costs. 

Digital Personal Assistants 

Most baby boomers live alone or with their most often elderly partner, both of whom require daily support and companionship. A virtual home assistant app such as the Mabu robot from Catalia Health can support senior interactions via touchscreens or speech.

Chronic Illness Epidemic Strains the Healthcare System 

Half of the Baby Boomers are taking heart medications, while one in a five is taking diabetic medications. The need for constant care and surveillance puts healthcare providers under great pressure, while at the same time leading to higher costs for making frequent doctor trips. Remote patient control gives this daunting situation a logical response. 

In fact, when you live in a remote area with limited access to the doctor’s office, the risks will only increase. Thankfully, recent developments in technologies has given a new way to deal with these issues. The implementation of telehealth has reduced the stress for patients and doctors. This helps deliver the right care without leaving the comfort of your home. 

Millennials Acceptance

This generation is transforming every industry, primarily because they are the first true virtual indigenous people to grow up at their fingertips with the portable supercomputer. This has connected their buying patterns and behaviors irrevocably with emerging and modern digital technologies. The trend generates ripples about how we interact, how we shop, and how we view healthcare.

Tomorrow’s family doctor should have been the conduit for patient-centered treatment. Such old models are turned upside down by the millennial generation, instead of choosing the privacy of the emergency care walk-in clinic over having a more meaningful relationship with one primary care provider.

There is an explanation of why the telemedicine industry is about to triple. Millennials lead the charge to patterns that suggest widespread telehealth adoption is on the way. Such shifts are partly due to millennial impatience with inefficiencies in health care–inefficiencies resigned to by the baby boomers. If a millennial wants a response today, they’re going to google it

Many middle-aged and elderly American groups support our healthcare system and even applaud it. By and wide, Millennials believe it’s inherently flawed. Older Americans are obviously used to inefficiencies arising from doctors and hospitals experiences. But in an age of instant gratification, millennials grew up.

Since millennials will have immense buying power over the next decade, healthcare providers need to start shifting their practice to meet these developments–or risk losing market share to competitors. While most hospitals now provide telehealth, these needs are usually not met by smaller and independent practices.

Schedule Flexibility 

Telemedicine will reduce the number of hours spent by doctors commuting from clinic to hospital or city to city. This advantage means that younger doctors – and their clients – can control their own schedules and utilize their free time, leading to greater autonomy and less burnout.

Practice Growth

Through attracting patients outside the state in which the doctor is located, thus minimizing overheads with increased workflow capacity, a doctor may quickly grow a practice through video-conferencing. Staff members can field calls to designate patients appropriately, allowing doctors to see patients with their skill set, while nurses and specialists are treating others. 

Increased Patient Satisfaction and Engagement

One of the patient’s biggest complaints is long waiting times, need for reviews. Telehealth solves these two problems. Patients find telemedicine increases their sense of a strong physician-patient relationship and high-quality care. It leads to the physician’s positive feedback and more confidence in job performance. 

 

Wrap Up

Although digital health technologies may not seem to be a natural fit for the generation of baby boomers— a population that had to embrace laptops and smartphones after turning 40—they were remarkably open to his technology. More than 70% of people over the age of 50 now have smartphones. Nearly half of smartphone owners over 50 use them for text, email searches, social media, and other apps.

In addition to wellness evaluations, adding a virtual health platform will help the baby boomers— and the rest of your multigenerational workforce — stay healthy and reduce chronic conditions while helping you save money on savings on your health plan.

While there may not be an app to fix a broken leg, every specialty field–including orthopedics–will be impacted by the coming changes. In reality, these baby boomers may have the greatest need for better health care and the greatest drain on savings on your health insurance.

How We Can Help

We at AIMDek Technologies help you fill the bridge between ‘being digital’ to ‘feeling digital’. From the Internet of Things to machine learning insights, AIMDek Technologies will introduce you to how to operate convenient and smart telehealth solutions to customer’s value-added services as a result of sustainable business in this software-driven technology.