The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our lives and change societal norms forever. One prominent change is the way consumers think about healthcare and the growing popularity of digital healthcare.
With the emergence of services such as Telehealth and consumer facing health technologies, it is safe to say the way we deliver and receive healthcare will never be the same again.
Health literacy continues to be on the rise. According to a Department of Health survey conducted in 2018, nearly one in four (23%) people strongly agreed that they had enough information to manage their own health. These numbers have risen over 2020 with COVID-19 becoming a catalyst for a digital health revolution.
Traditionally people have learned about their health by getting advice from friends, family, the education system and the government. Nowadays, more people are turning to online sources for advice on health topics. A study by St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne found that 77% of patients searched for their symptoms online before seeing a doctor to better understand their potential condition.
Using our social listening tool, Meltwater, we conducted a search for the term ‘health technology’. Results show how many times the term was used on social media in 2019 versus 2020. The results from 2019 show that the term was used 14,900 times across social media. The number of times the phrase was used in 2020 jumps to 79,900 for the same time period.
It has become crucial for governments to ensure the general public are receiving health advice and information from reliable sources. Health misinformation campaigns are becoming more common. Healthcare companies have the opportunity to counteract these campaigns by ensuring safe, reliable and useful information is readily available to the public.
For companies that produce personalised health technology, be it a physical device or a useful app, now is the time to act and get your brand name out there.
2020 research commissioned by the Australia Digital Health Agency confirms that Australians are now more open to using digital technology to manage their healthcare and see the benefits of engaging with healthcare providers remotely.
This is especially true for those with chronic illnesses and the way in which they monitor their condition.
One of the most revolutionary pieces of technology is the use of digital tools to manage chronic illnesses, like diabetes, remotely.
The FreeStyle® Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring system allows people with diabetes to check their glucose levels. It works by hovering a smartphone over a small sensor on the back of their arm. The glucose reading is gathered by the FreeStyle LibreLink smartphone app. It is then automatically shared with a cloud-based platform that doctors can securely access to review the data remotely.
Digital platforms and applications like My Health Record and MedAdvisor have also been experiencing an uptake in users. The purpose of the My Health Record system is to keep all relevant medical history in one place.
MedAdvisor manages a person’s medication intake. Patients can use the app on their smartphone to ensure they are taking their medication effectively and on time and it also reminds users when to fill recurring scripts. The app sends push notifications if the user is overdue to visit their doctor to get a replacement prescription.
Find out more about healthcare delivery in rural and remote settings here.
Healthcare providers and those seeking healthcare are more willing to turn to technology for healthcare delivery.
However, getting your company name out there can be challenging, especially if this is your first step into the world of consumer facing communications.
We have devised a list of three top tips to help you get started:
Before budget is allocated for public relations, advertising or promotional campaigns make sure your website or product landing pages are easy to understand and user-friendly. This makes the user journey enjoyable and consumers are more likely to visit again.
Create a brand guidelines document to ensure all of your external communications are unanimous. Maintaining consistency makes it easier for consumers to recognise your brand and remember it.
Exploring paid searches or pay-per-click advertising is a great way to start. They are easy to set-up and allow you to keep a close eye on your budget. This form of advertising gives you the option to activate, pause and restart a promotion at a time that suits you best. Paid searches allow your company to be one of the top search results on a customer’s web browser. Thanks to the user-friendly set-up, this form of advertising gives clear analytics on your return on investment.
