Gaps persist between expectations and current state, underscoring importance of strategy around digital health

Xealth, the leader in enabling digital health at scale, today announced recent survey findings that examine the digital health expectations of new or expectant mothers compared to the services received from healthcare providers. Results were reviewed against an earlier survey conducted in February 2020, showing how COVID-19 has shaped attitudes.

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To better understand how time and COVID-19 have shaped digital health attitudes, Xealth commissioned a survey among more than 1,000 U.S. women who are new or expectant mothers. (Graphic: Business Wire)

According to the survey¹, commissioned by Xealth and conducted among more than 1,000 U.S. women who are new or expectant mothers, a majority (57%) of them have a more favorable opinion of digital health since the pandemic began. Key findings include:

• Telehealth appointments with their doctor increased 540%.
• 83% of survey respondents had in-person visits with their doctor.
• The widest gaps in patient expectations versus current state exist related to price transparency (97.6% difference), virtual monitoring/tracking tools (62.5% difference), and electronic refill of prescriptions (58.7% difference).

“Tremendous resources have been poured into digital health, yet a shocking amount of people identify Zoom as a digital health brand,” said Mike McSherry, CEO and co-founder of Xealth. “This research signifies both the opportunity and work ahead in supplementing care delivery with digital resources in a way that meets or even exceeds patient needs. It is not enough to roll out point solutions – a clear digital health strategy is required to make these programs meaningful.”

Healthcare has been shifting towards a more consumer-friendly experience and the pandemic prompted a fast roll-out of virtual care. Seeing the benefit to patient engagement, treatment compliance and patient retention, digital health smashed investment records during just the first half of 2021 with a record $14.7 billion, already more than was raised in all of 2020.

Other notable findings from the survey:

• Nearly half (45%) of new moms surveyed were unable to name digital health companies.
• Twice the amount of survey respondents would be open to switching doctors if they were not offered a satisfactory digital health experience -- 10.3%, up from 5.3% in 2020.

Access the full report and infographic here: xealth.com/digital-destinations.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Persky on behalf of Xealth from August 28-September 8, 2021, among 1,004 adults ages 18 and older who are new or expecting moms. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Xealth

Xealth scales digital health programs, enabling clinicians to integrate, prescribe and monitor digital health tools for patients to drive engagement and utilization. Through the secure Xealth platform, clinicians can find and order the right digital health tools and programs for patients directly from the EHR workflow, send these digital health orders to the patient’s email or patient portal, and then monitor activity. Xealth spun out of Providence St. Joseph Health (PSJH) in 2017, and investors include Advocate Aurora Enterprises, Atrium Health, Cleveland Clinic, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, Cerner, McKesson Ventures, Novartis, Philips, and ResMed as well as Providence Ventures, UPMC and the Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin Health Network.

For more information, visit www.xealth.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

¹ Survey conducted online within the United States by Persky on behalf of Xealth from August 28-September 8, 2021 among 1,004 adults ages 18 and older who are new or expecting mothers. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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