Two-Thirds of Baby Boomers and Seniors Want a Digital Healthcare Payments Experience

The healthcare industry is experiencing a rapid shift to digital channels, and older generations are embracing this change.

PYMNTS’ data shows that 64% of baby boomers and seniors have already adopted digital channels for some healthcare activities. We also find that they are highly satisfied with their digital experiences.

The current digital healthcare status quo is disjointed, however, and implementing unified digital healthcare platforms is crucial for the healthcare industry. The sheer number of older consumers and their healthcare needs makes them a key demographic that platform providers need to consider. By enhancing convenience, accessibility and navigation of complex insurance and prescription management, the platforms can vastly improve older consumers’ healthcare experiences.

These are some of the key findings in “What Baby Boomers and Seniors Want From Digital Healthcare Platforms,” a PYMNTS and Lynx collaboration. For this report, we surveyed 2,515 U.S. consumers and examine the healthcare industry’s digital shift from the perspective of older consumers.

This is what we learned.

Baby boomers and seniors are embracing digital healthcare activities nearly as much as their younger peers.

PYMNTS’ latest consumer research reveals that all age groups are embracing the digital transformation in healthcare, even baby boomers and seniors. With 64% of baby boomers and seniors participating in at least one online healthcare activity in the past year, they are not far behind their younger counterparts. This fact underscores that baby boomers and seniors are willing adopters of digital healthcare innovations.

Baby boomers and seniors exhibit high satisfaction rates for key digital healthcare activities.

In some areas, older consumers are at the forefront of the digital healthcare transition. They report high levels of satisfaction with digital platforms, even surpassing the average consumer’s satisfaction rates for several key digital activities. For instance, 72% of baby boomers and seniors expressed satisfaction scheduling appointments online, while the average across all respondents was 67%.

Consumers in all age groups show a broad interest in unified digital platforms for healthcare, and one-quarter of baby boomers and seniors are highly interested.

Consumers consistently expressed strong interest in using unified digital platforms to manage their healthcare experiences. While baby boomers and seniors may not be the digital pioneers of younger generations, 65% still expressed some interest and 24% showed high interest in these platforms — a staggering 55 million and 20 million U.S. consumers, respectively.

“What Baby Boomers and Seniors Want From Digital Healthcare Platforms” delves into the evolving digital healthcare landscape to examine older consumers’ interest in leveraging unified digital platforms for seamless healthcare management.

Download the report to learn more about what older consumers need from the digital healthcare space.