BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Klick Health today released preliminary new data from an innovative study it commissioned suggesting the more that chronic patients manage their conditions online, the better they feel about their health.
The first installment of the #BetterLiving research study reveals three distinct types of chronic patients, which are based on digital lifestyles rather than traditional demographic segmentation, such as age or computer access. While 98 percent of chronic patients connect to the Web across multiple devices:
- 18 percent go online daily or weekly to integrate digital technologies that help manage their health (Integrators);
- 47 percent use the Internet on a monthly basis to seek health information (Seekers);
- 35 percent don’t go online for health reasons, saying they manage their health in strictly non-digital, traditional ways (Traditionalists).
Thirteen percent of Integrators say they are in excellent health compared to only 4 percent of Seekers and 2 percent of Traditionalists. Within the Integrator segment, two-thirds use digital to do research across the patient journey, notably pre- and post-doctor visits, after therapies have been prescribed and when patients have issues and/or free time.
“It’s very clear from the data that patients want to increasingly leverage digital to exercise control in their day-to-day health and help guide their destinies,” said Peter Flaschner, SVP, Client Experience at Klick.
Among other key findings:
- Like most Americans researching health, chronic patients go to popular online health portals, like WebMD, however they over-index relative to the general population using online forums (38 percent vs. 20 percent).
- Of the 19 percent of patients who use mobile for health-related activity, a significant number expressed strong interest in more data-driven, patient-physician interaction. Eighty percent of them are interested in getting health apps from their doctors; 75 percent would use apps to connect with their doctors; and 78 percent are open to sharing their health data with their doctors. A full two-thirds want to use apps to remind them to take their medicine.
According to San Diego-based oncologist Dr. Steven Eisenberg, “More and more of my patients are using apps to better connect and communicate with me. Having their most current health and wellness data at my fingertips helps ensure I can provide them with a better quality of life.”
About Klick Health
Klick Health is the world’s largest
independent digital health agency, laser-focused on creating solutions
that engage and educate about life-saving treatments. Klick helps 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 digital universe – strategy, creative, analytics,
instructional design, user experience, relationship marketing, social
and mobile. Established in 1997, Klick has teams in Chicago, New Jersey,
New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Toronto. For more information
on Klick, go to www.klick.com.
Follow Klick on Twitter @KlickHealth.
Methodology: The research survey was conducted through online and telephone polls over two weeks in November 2014 by Survey Sampling International. The responses, from a sample of all US adults with diabetes, came from 2,000 diabetic adults (1,800 with computers and 200 with landline or cellular telephones). The margin of error is +/- 2% at the 95% confidence interval. Full survey details will be released later this month as part of the ongoing #LivingBetter research series.
