New Oliver Wyman Survey Shows Consumers Like and Increasingly Use Retail Health Clinics

Report breaks down what arrival of this “new front door to
healthcare” means for payers, providers, and retailers

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oliver Wyman announced today the results of a new survey on consumers’
experiences with alternative sites of care, such as retail health
clinics, urgent care centers, and telehealth. The report, entitled “The
New Front Door to Healthcare is Here,” found that more consumers
across all demographics are using these alternative sites of care, and
many are having good experiences.

“This has tremendous implications for the entire healthcare industry,”
said Graegar Smith, principal in Oliver Wyman’s Health & Life Sciences
Practice and lead author of the report. “Providing a better care
experience in more convenient settings, like a local retailer or a
person’s own living room, can boost patient engagement, and that can
lead to higher satisfaction and better health,” he explained. “But if
the ‘new front door’ isn’t designed and executed correctly, we could
actually see costs rise and consumer experience decline.”

The survey findings indicate that consumers will increasingly use
alternative sites. As a result, Oliver Wyman projects at least $200
billion in current healthcare spend could flow to one or more of these
alternative sites of care. “But the promise of the new front door is not
about moving spending from one site to another,” Smith said. “It’s about
creating an overall better healthcare system and integrating these new
sites with traditional ones to delight the consumer.”

Key survey highlights include:

• 70 percent of consumers are familiar with the concept of a health and
  wellness clinic within a retail store. One-quarter of consumers have
  used a retail clinic, an 11 percentage point increase from the
  previous survey in 2013.
• Almost 80 percent of consumers who had visited a health and wellness
  clinic within a drug store, discount retail store, or grocery store
  within the past two years said the experience was the same or better
  than a traditional doctor’s office. Almost 30 percent said the
  experience was better or much better.
• 57 percent of consumers are now familiar with the concept of a health
  and wellness visit conducted remotely via phone, voice chat, or video
  chat
• It’s not just the young and healthy who are using alternative sites.
  The survey shows use across many demographic and health segments. For
  example, 17 percent of 18-24 year olds and 17 percent of those 65
  years and older had used a retail clinic.

“Consumers have spoken; the new front door is here,” Smith said. “Now
it’s up to healthcare providers, insurers, and retailers to build it in
a way that has meaning, impact, and value.”

The national online survey was conducted in late 2015 among more than
2,000 individuals sampled to be representative of key demographics
including age, income, race, and geography. The sample also had a mix of
individuals with commercial insurance (group and individual / exchange)
and Medicaid and Medicare, as well as health statuses ranging from
healthy and poly-chronic.

About Oliver Wyman’s Health & Life Sciences Practice

Oliver Wyman’s Health & Life Sciences practice serves clients in the
pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices, provider, and payer
sectors with strategic, operational, and organizational advice. Deep
healthcare knowledge and capabilities allow the practice to deliver
fact‐based solutions. For the latest on the business of transforming
healthcare, visit Oliver Wyman Health digital platform at health.oliverwyman.com.

About Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices
in 50+ cities across 26 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry
knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk
management, and organization transformation. The firm’s 3,700
professionals help clients optimize their business, improve their
operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational
performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is
a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For
more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow
Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman.

Contacts

Oliver Wyman
Francine Minadeo, 212-345-6417
francine.minadeo@oliverwyman.com