Only 17% of People Rank Health-Related Sectors as Most Innovative, but 40% Think They Should Be

Klick Health consumer study highlights four key insights:

  • Desire for increased innovation in healthcare
  • Belief that healthcare innovation will enhance patient-physician experience
  • Perception that technology will help consumers manage their health
  • Opportunity for emerging technologies to play larger role in people’s health

Ninety percent of U.S. consumers believe that technology will positively impact their health in the future, according to a new Maru/Matchbox poll. Commissioned by Klick Health, the survey also found that health & fitness wearables are predicted to have the biggest impact on consumers' health in the next five years. (Graphic: Business Wire)

NEW YORK & TORONTO--()--Americans are flagging the need for more healthcare innovation, according to a recent Klick Health survey of 1,012 adults, conducted by Maru/Matchbox.

Wanted: More innovation
Only 17% of consumers polled in the 2017 Klick Health Consumer Survey on Healthcare Innovation currently perceive health-related industries as being the most innovative, out of 18 industries examined. Specifically, pharmaceuticals & biotech, health & wellness, and hospital sectors lagged considerably in perceived innovation behind consumer electronics, telecommunications, and media & entertainment.

However, respondents ranked health & wellness first in terms of the industry that should be the most innovative, quickly followed by pharmaceuticals & biotech, and hospitals in the top five industries. These results suggest a desire by consumers for innovation in healthcare, even though they do not believe that healthcare-related industries are particularly innovative today.

Enhancing the patient-physician experience
Ninety-one percent of consumers believe that innovation will positively impact healthcare over the next five years, with a large portion saying that the patient-physician experience will benefit the most from innovation.

Specifically, almost half of respondents said innovation will help physicians better treat and diagnose patients, with another 20% saying that it will help patients and their loved ones better manage and care for their health, and 19% saying that it will help prevent disease.

“Even in today’s modern world, people think that healthcare innovation will help physicians better treat patients most,” said Keith Liu, Klick SVP of Products and Innovation. “This suggests that, when it comes to healthcare, people still want a human connection, empathy, and other benefits that can only be obtained through the patient-physician experience.”

Opportunities for emerging healthcare technologies
The study findings also point to a gap between consumers’ belief of how technology will impact their future health and their usage of healthcare technology. Ninety percent of people say that technology will have a positive impact on their health in the future. Specifically, 70% believe that technology will have the biggest impact in helping them personally manage their own health.

However, only half of respondents indicate that technology has had a positive impact of their personal health and/or wellness. Furthermore, only 41% claim to have ever personally used innovative technology to help manage their health.

Overall, the findings point to a disconnect between the large percentage of consumers who feel that technology will help healthcare in the future, and the much lower percentage of consumers who have ever had a positive experience with technologies managing health in the past. This demonstrates that there are significant growth opportunities for innovative technologies aimed at helping patients and consumers manage their health.

Neuropsychologist Rex Jung of the University of New Mexico said, “This survey highlights consumers’ adoption of technology as a main healthcare interface. The findings really reflect a shift in the consumer mindset from being passive recipients of healthcare to more active and autonomous individuals who appear eager to try more creative and innovative approaches to managing their health.”

Other key data points

  • Consumer electronics (28%), telecommunications (13%), and media & entertainment (10%) ranked highest for industries that are perceived to be the most innovative. Pharmaceuticals & biotech (9%), health & wellness (5%), and hospitals (3%) ranked significantly lower.
  • In terms of sectors that people felt should be the most innovative, health & wellness ranked at the top of the list (17%) and pharmaceuticals & biotech (14%) and hospitals (9%) follow close behind in the top 5.
  • Top five technologies predicted to have biggest impact on people’s health in next five years:
    • Health and fitness wearables (21%)
    • Robotics (15%)
    • 3D printing (10%)
    • Smart home devices (9%)
    • Artificial intelligence (9%)

To view the full report and/or download an infographic of the data, please go to the Klick e-newsroom.

Survey methodology: An online omnibus survey was conducted between May 19 and May 21, 2017 through Maru/Matchbox among 1,012 randomly selected American adults who are also Springboard America Community panel members. The margin of error is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. To ensure that these results are representative of the entire adult population of America, the results have been statistically weighted according to education, age, gender, region, and ethnicity. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

The survey results were released today in the lead-up to the Cannes Lions Health festival of creativity at which Klick is curating an exclusive line-up of innovation thought leaders and demonstrations of cutting-edge healthcare technology. To learn more about Klick’s presence at Cannes, click here.

About Klick Health
Klick Health is the world's largest independent health marketing and commercialization agency. Named MM&M’s 2016 Large Agency of the Year, Klick is laser-focused on creating solutions that engage and educate healthcare providers about life-saving treatments and help inform and empower patients to manage their health and play a central role in their own care. Every solution hinges on Klick's in-house expertise across the commercial universe—strategy, creative, analytics, instructional design, user experience, relationship marketing, social and mobile. Follow Klick on Twitter at @KlickHealth.

About Klick Inc.
Klick operates with a fiercely independent spirit at the intersection of creativity, data, and technology. The Klick family is a diverse group of people who are driven and connected by a shared culture and commitment to the relentless pursuit of awesome at Klick Health, K2 Digital, Klick Learning Solutions (KLS), and Sensei Labs. Established in 1997, Klick has teams in Atlanta, Connecticut, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and Toronto. Klick has been recognized for having one of the top 10 intranets in the world and has been consistently named a Great Place to Work, Best Workplace for Women, Best Employer, Fastest Growing Technology Company, and Best Managed Company. Klick’s co-founders wrote New York Times Bestseller The Decoded Company (Portfolio/Penguin), the first book about big data in the workplace. For more information on Klick companies, go to klick-inc.com.

Contacts

For more information, interviews, or images, please contact:
Klick Health
Sheryl Steinberg, 416-214-4977 ext. 2412
pr@klick.com
or
Alight PR
Melissa Sheridan, 415 609 6875
klick@alightpr.com

Release Summary

Americans are flagging the need for more healthcare innovation, according to a recent Klick Health survey of 1,012 adults, conducted by Maru/Matchbox.

Contacts

For more information, interviews, or images, please contact:
Klick Health
Sheryl Steinberg, 416-214-4977 ext. 2412
pr@klick.com
or
Alight PR
Melissa Sheridan, 415 609 6875
klick@alightpr.com