Digital Health Is Redefining Patient Expectations of Care
Key Takeaways:
- Consumers used to personalised digital experiences in banking, retail and entertainment now expect the same convenience and personalisation from healthcare, according to a 2024 Deloitte study.
- Patients are already using digital health services widely: in Spain, 72.48% of survey respondents had used online medical appointments, and older patients and caregivers valued patient portals for their convenience.
- A 2026 OECD report found that patients who have to repeat information that should already be in their health records report worse experiences of trust, quality of care and person-centred care.
The overlooked patient perspective
Professional forums are increasingly focusing on how digital health can contribute to clinical workflows, from automating administrative tasks and analysing imaging studies to segmenting patient groups. However, these discussions often overlook the role of patients themselves, and how digital health is changing their expectations and perceptions of their own healthcare needs.
The growing availability of services that combine effectiveness with patient care and convenience may also be influencing what patients expect from the healthcare system as a whole.
Convenience as a competitive advantage
A 2024 Deloitte study indicated that healthcare systems could gain a competitive advantage by ensuring that their virtual health offerings prioritise convenience and respond to consumer preferences.
According to the report, “today’s consumers, accustomed to highly personalized virtual experiences in banking, retail, and entertainment, now expect the same level of convenience and personalization in their interactions with the healthcare system.”
This shift highlights a key challenge for the healthcare sector: aligning organisational strategies with growing consumer demand for accessible digital health solutions.
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Private investment in digital health
Private sector companies are also increasing their investment in digital health.
One example is the recent acquisition of Reimagine Care, a US company that provided virtual care to people with cancer outside the hospital setting, by Cureety, a French healthtech company specialising in the remote monitoring of people with cancer. In 2023, Cureety became the first company in France to receive national reimbursement for the remote monitoring of people with cancer.
Among other features, the company offered a patient interface that supported:
- simple, user-friendly symptom reporting
- secure and ongoing communication with healthcare teams
- reminders
- access to educational content selected and adapted to each person’s treatment and stage of disease
The platform also supported the digitisation and automation of care processes, the monitoring of treatment-specific toxicity, patient classification, the generation of real-world data, and the delivery of specialised educational content to both patients and healthcare professionals at the appropriate point in the care process. Taken together, these functions illustrate how digital health services are evolving.
How patients are using digital health
The question, then, is whether these new approaches to healthcare are changing what patients seek. Several studies have highlighted the value that patients place on online health platforms.
A recent article in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society examined patient and caregiver expectations regarding the use of patient portals in geriatric care. Users considered patient portals beneficial, particularly because they were convenient and allowed them to avoid in-person care.
In Spain, data from the national survey “Supply and Demand for Users of eHealth Services in Spain”, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research in 2023, showed that online medical appointments were the most widely used eHealth service. Overall, 72.48% of respondents had used online medical appointments at some point.
The question of trust
While convenience is one consideration, trust is another fundamental issue. Greater access to information that is readily available and easier to understand could strengthen patients’ trust in healthcare professionals and in the healthcare system more broadly.
The 2026 report Building People-Centred Digital Health Systems from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concluded that “When patients have to repeat information that should already be available in their health records, they report significantly worse experience across key patient indicators: trust in the healthcare system, experienced quality of care, and person-centered care.”
However, the report also noted: “Truly patient-centered digital health depends not only on electronic systems but also on patient awareness of access rights, practical tools to retrieve and use data, support for health and digital literacy, and policy frameworks that prioritize patient control over the use of their own health information in line with the OECD Health Data Governance Recommendation.”
Redefining quality care
The debate, therefore, centres on whether healthcare systems need to pursue greater resolution of patients’ needs while also developing a new understanding of what constitutes quality care in a digital age.
This article was translated from El Médico Interactivo on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.
CCH insight
As patient expectations shift towards convenience, personalisation and seamless access to information, healthcare professionals have a growing role in helping digital tools work well for the people they care for. Our AI Essentials for Primary Care CPD short course helps primary care professionals build a practical understanding of AI and digital innovation in everyday practice.
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Source: Medscape
