Zoomers… an economic force coming into their own. With a buying power that may exceed $3 trillion, Gen Z is the first generation to never know the drab (perhaps relaxing) world of pre-internet days. This block of spending power (devices firmly in hand) is poised to help transform healthcare. They want holistic, individualized healthcare with mental health baked in.
Gen Z wants healthcare without boundaries… meaning they don’t get why everything has to be a physical visit to a facility. You know what? They’re right. Here’s the situation: we’re already seeing changes in the space due to the decline of marketing and sales driven growth and the rise a of bottom-up, consumer-grade technology focus. These two can join hands and explore the next frontier of healthcare together.
To be clear, we’ll all go through this together… but it will be their norm. We’ll see them pioneer changes because they must forge a way in a world that none of us have ever lived in. We’ll see them partner with, and build, businesses that get everyone’s needs met. Gen Z isn’t just the consumer here, they are the clinicians, patients, software engineers, and business owners.
Gen Z will build, operate, and receive care from the very tech shaping their experiences. Numbers tell us that, post-pandemic, up to 98% of clinicians are utilizing mobile technology. These factors point to a loss in our need to head to the office for a visit. Technology adoption has joined forces with circumstances to propel healthcare into a frontier where devices and patients, not office space, are the focus.
About half of all Americans now engage with their healthcare providers using hybrid methods… so, mixing in-person with patient portals, telehealth appointments, and apps. These are called “omnichannel patients”, and they signal this new norm. Gen Z has a high level of adoption, with over 60% of them using patient portals and other digital methods to access care. This number will continue to grow.
Some up-and-coming companies see the writing on the wall… like Caraway, a Gen Z-focused digital health company backed by impressive names like GV (previously Google Ventures). The company, which recently raised $17 million in Series A funding, offers digital physical, mental, and reproductive healthcare. What Caraway is doing differently is providing clinicians that are available via chat, phone, or video 24/7.
Their services are available in a handful of states, with more being rolled out. Caraway leadership has expressed concern for what they see as a “the tsunami of unmet need” for not just Gen Z, but in particular those in this age bracket that are female or assigned female at birth. They assert that this new way forward puts the power back in the hands of patients, who know their bodies and needs best.
Caraway has partnered with Ash Wellness to help address unmet reproductive health needs on college campuses through offering complimentary, customized kits that students can have mailed directly to them. Ash Wellness is an at-home diagnostics and testing company, and with their help, Caraway’s members can get help from an integrated care team without disrupting their lives.
More familiar names are also working on similar ideas to tackle healthcare problems facing Gen Z, such as telehealth company Amwell. The company has partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on gen-z focused telehealth program “AAP Connect”, which provides Gen Z patients access to virtual care with board-certified pediatricians. They understand these “digital natives” and aim to help keep them well.
But… what overall trends should we look for to become the norm for Gen Z healthcare? For starters, with nowhere near the level of privacy concerns as previous generations, we can expect to see lots of wearables. Gen Z has a lot to do, it makes sense to them that data is collected in real-time. They understand that data-driven inputs equal better outcomes. Having on-board biometrics monitoring does not bother them.
AI will play in… but not in a hype type of way. By this, we simply mean that they’ll be so connected that AI will be needed to collect, sort, disseminate, and otherwise manage these vast amounts of data. Gene editing will also be another norm for them. Again, this one may be an exposure thing. They just aren’t that upset by the idea of genetic modification. They grew up with it, so this is a reasonable stance from their perspective.
This will all be knit together by Gen Z’s general “okayness” with piping up when they have needs going unmet. They aren’t shy about anything, in general. Mental health, sexual health, and any other type of health has been an open issue for them thanks to the internet. Now, it’s time for healthcare to make sure their care delivery options match up to an entire generation of economically empowered, information savvy, healthcare consumer’s demands. Come back next week for more from the IPO space.