Consumers are willing to try some new forms of care, but most have strong preferences about where they receive services, according to results from an Oliver Wyman consumer survey. For example, 79 percent of respondents said they were interested in receiving care for a minor episode in at least one alternative location, such as a walk-in clinic or urgent care center (61 percent), pharmacy (36 percent), discount retail store (24 percent), grocery store (20 percent) or remotely via phone or voice or video chat (11 percent). Two-thirds said they are interested in getting advice on diet, nutrition, fitness and well-being, and half are interested in getting advice on managing a chronic condition in such venues.
Consumers' interest in receiving care in alternative locations has limits, however. Of the 57 percent who would receive care in a retail clinic, 28 percent were interested only if the clinic were run in partnership with a local provider. An additional 16 percent said they would be willing to use a clinic for a health-related service, but not for medical care. And of the 48 percent of respondents who said they would use remote services, more than half said they would use them only if care were cheaper to compensate for the provider's distance. Also, they were more interested in managing a chronic condition remotely (19 percent) than they were in receiving treatment for minor episodes (13 percent), routine care (11 percent) or a physical exam (4 percent).
In general, consumers were more interested in receiving routine care and treatment for minor episodes in all alternative venues and remotely than they were in receiving a physical examination in such venues.
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