Market Data 
A recent white paper released by pharmaceutical giant CVS Health explains the link between consumer user experience and health outcomes. The paper specifically looks at key parameters such as how medication adherence is actually far improved when consumers have a better experience in acquiring those medications.
Though the proposition may seem somewhat intuitive already, the research digs deeper; one key measure that it explores is the portion of days covered (PDC), which is a metric that pharmacies often use to measure how well a patient’s medication supply covers the time period which they are required to take the medication. Ideally, a PDC closer to 100% is better, as it indicates that a patient had enough medication for the days that required coverage. However, sometimes, this number drops for a variety of reasons that may be directly related to the consumer experience; for example, pharmacists or insurance companies may limit the quantity of medication dispensed and have different guidance than what the physician instructed to the patient; or, there may be delays in getting the actual prescription filled by the patient due to challenges in the fulfillment process.
The research found a causal relationship between consumer user experience and PDC in relation to their impacts on adherence and outcomes; in fact, the findings indicated that when PDC was over 95%, patients spent $1893 less for overall healthcare costs as compared with individuals with less than 25% PDC; additionally, it found that “Increasing PDC from 85-90% to 90-95% increases savings in total costs of care between $870 and $1140 for patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension.” These cost savings translate into significant drivers of adherence for patients.
This is why pharmaceutical companies (and healthcare companies more broadly) are investing billions of dollars to improve their customer and consumer experience modalities. A McKinsey study in 2024 describes how consumers, on average, continue to be unsatisfied with their overall healthcare journeys. One key opportunity the research indicates is the ability for healthcare organizations to significantly ramp up their digital footprint and introduce more technological innovation into the patient journey, especially given how rapidly accustomed consumers are becoming to using technology for day-to-day service interactions.
Another key opportunity is based on how democratized data has become—both for consumers and for organizations. For healthcare organizations, data is plenty; aspects such as how patients prefer interactions, what trends they follow and cumulative engagement metrics are easily available, though perhaps siloed. This is another reason why healthcare data companies are rushing to create solutions for organizations to better inform them about their patient populations and collate information across silos. On the other end of the spectrum, patients and consumers also have significant opportunity to conduct research and gather data on organizations and providers. This means that enterprises will no longer solely be judged on their brand name or their price points, but also by what kind of experiences they provide to consumers.
The ability for consumer choice and autonomy in managing outcomes as dictated by their experiences paves way for an incredibly competitive market. Healthcare organizations must swiftly innovate and improve their stakeholder experiences if they desire to survive in this landscape.
