Proximity, Convenience Driving Patient Healthcare Decisions

While cost is important to patients when choosing a healthcare provider, location and convenience also rank highly in the decision-making process, according to JLL’s Healthcare Patient Consumer Survey. Location and convenience affect the care experience, which, along with the quality of service provided and the comfort of the facility, drive positive experiences that lead patients to return to a particular provider.

More than 80% of responders evaluating primary and preventive or specialist care noted whether a provider or hospital accepts their insurance as one of the top five factors considered when deciding to seek care. Location and proximity ranked as the second-most-likely factor for all types of care, aside from outpatient behavioral health, which it ranked third.

When care is needed urgently, decision factors are simplified, and location and proximity ranked even higher than most other types of care. For urgent care and emergency care, insurance, location and proximity, wait time and past experience were most important. Reputation, physical accessibility and hospital network are not all important for these care types.

This shift in sites of care leads to patient volumes increasing for outpatient services and decreasing for inpatient, prioritizing convenience.

Making locations convenient by placing them close to other errands, in retail locations or in small offices in neighborhoods can improve patient experience. More than 58% of those who evaluated a healthcare experience went to an additional location as part of the trip, which could benefit retail stores and play into a retail center’s larger strategy when selecting tenants.

JLL found that the younger the person, the less likely they are to use primary care, as younger generations apply a “wait-until-it-breaks model” versus proactively seeking regular care. Nearly 80% of adults 65 and older have two or more chronic conditions, increasing their need for continuous care and more than 70% of Baby Boomers received primary and preventive care within the last year, as opposed to only 26% of Gen Z. Millennials and Gen Z were also more likely to report receiving urgent care, emergency care and outpatient behavioral health than other generations.

Hospitals, physicians and other care providers can locate relevant facilities using a demographics-based site selection strategy or drive younger populations to preventive care through expanding value-based care models. Providers can also locate urgent and standalone emergency care near younger populations to improve access and wait times, make it easier to find or schedule same-day appointments with a primary care provider and increase transparency of costs for sick visits for urgent and primary care – as younger generations with less savings may postpone care due to concerns about cost.

Telehealth is one avenue to address wait times and increase access for care, allowing providers to address concerns before or without an in-person visit. Telehealth remains steady in usage and acceptance. The percentage of respondents that had a telehealth visit remained steady from JLL’s 2022 survey.

JLL found that quality of service affects patient experience most, followed by comfort of facilities. Additionally, respondents noted the age of facilities does not have a significant impact on patient experience, meaning through quality maintenance and attention to details that affect patient comfort like waiting rooms, cleanliness and safety, a healthcare provider can overcome an old facility.

“Designing facilities for patient comfort and implementing a strong facilities management program can create more positive experiences and increase loyalty,” said Alison Flynn Gaffney, FACHE, president, Healthcare Division, JLL.

The JLL Healthcare Patient Survey was conducted via Engine Insights with a nationally representative group of 4,017 U.S. residents from April 19-28. Of the respondents, 51% were female, and 48% were male.