Healthcare Marketing

How to Market Healthcare Resources to Millennials In the Time of “Dr. Google”

“Millennials rarely go to the doctor first for health info. Ashley Leone outlines how to build loyalty through millennial healthcare marketing.”

Source(s): www.iwco.com

My 26th birthday is right around the corner, which means I will not be able to mooch off of my parent’s health insurance anymore. The relationship between millennials and their healthcare is an evolving one that stems from a redefinition of what it means to be healthy. Medical Marketing & Media’s White Paper entitled “Communicating with Millennials: Understanding Their Approach to Health” examines the disconnect millennials experience when attempting to understand a healthcare industry developed and shaped by previous generations. The findings state, “For millennials, health is no longer just ‘the absence of illness—it is a proactive pursuit for wellness that encompasses mental health, nutrition, sleeping habits, and exercise.”

Part of this millennial healthcare trend can be attributed to readily-available information via the internet and the expansion of subject matter seen in mandatory high school and college health courses. Another side effect of the internet is how quickly communities can form through social media and the sharing of personal health stories. This has helped reduce the stigma of mental health disorders and other health-related issues that did not previously have such an easily accessible forum.

Millennials Feel More Knowledgeable Than Ever About Their Health

This increase in healthcare knowledge by millennials has led to another, the more alarming trend among this generation: self-diagnosis.

Only 41% of millennials feel that doctors are their best source of information. Not surprisingly, almost 30% of millennials do not have a primary physician. Instead, they’re turning to Dr. Google.

39% of millennials—almost as many as those who say they trust doctors for their health information—say they are satisfied…[read the full article at iwco.com]