This month, online medical booking platform Zocdoc released its year-end report detailing various trends in patient behavior. The report is based on data from the millions of visitors ZokuDok sees each month, and highlights the increased demand for sleep medicine specialists, the spike in summer mental health appointments, and the increased use of telemedicine visits. They point out the low level of
The report also includes several predictions from Zocdoc CEO Oliver Kharraz about how patient behavior and the healthcare industry as a whole will change over the next year. Below are three of his most notable predictions.
Patients increasingly choose cash-based care
Most Americans with health insurance are conditioned to seek care from in-network providers, but these patients are often blindsided by unexpected out-of-pocket costs, Karaz says. he pointed out.
“Given the continued rise in both medical costs and high-deductible plans, it is no surprise that more patients are demanding transparent pricing with guaranteed upfront payments.” he said.
Cullors believes this trend will continue to grow in areas such as prescriptions and diagnostics that emphasize longevity, such as bundled services such as tests and MRIs.
He also noted that healthcare is becoming increasingly consumer-driven, meaning niche cash payment services could become more prevalent.
“For example, our booking data shows that patients chose to go out-of-network this year primarily for mental health, cosmetic treatments, and dental treatments,” Karas said.
Amazon restructures healthcare assets
Over the past few years, healthcare industry leaders have watched technology and retail giants like Walmart, Apple and Google struggle to break into their uniquely complex field. Amazon is no exception, and Karas believes the company will likely significantly reorganize its healthcare services in 2025.
He noted that as a technology giant, it makes sense to leverage its core competencies to make the most of America's nearly $5 trillion in health spending. For example, Amazon sought to leverage its strengths in retail, Apple sought to break through with hardware capabilities, and Google entered the space with a data-first strategy, Karas explained.
“When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But it's hard to destroy healthcare from within, and this approach has not been successful,” he said.
Amazon's healthcare efforts haven't been very profitable, and it's “unbearable” for the company to continue to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, Karas said.
“I think 2025 will be the year Amazon decides it doesn't have the recipe for in-person care. Managing providers is a completely different business than managing logistics,” he said.
He thinks Amazon will likely refocus on the benefits of pharmacies, which are easier to scale than medical delivery services.
Adoption of GLP-1 will increase
The report predicts that more Americans will begin using GLP-1 drugs in 2025. GLP-1 supply issues are decreasing, and so are prices. This means that many Americans will have access to medicines they previously couldn't afford.
This will have some downstream effects, Karas said. For example, he thinks payers will likely start treating these drugs differently.
“We're going to see an evolution in insurance coverage, and payers, including Medicare and Medicaid, are starting to come under pressure to expand access to weight loss drugs,” Karas noted.
He also noted that compounders could be phased out. Compound drugs helped fill the supply gap when GLP-1 production was slow, but now these drugs are more available and patients are being offered cheaper, FDA-approved options rather than compound drugs. Karasz explained that people will be more likely to choose
Increased adoption of GLP-1 will also cause indirect effects, he added.
“For some patients, the need for traditional weight loss drugs, bariatric surgery, and possibly insulin therapy may be reduced. They have the potential to reduce associated comorbidities. We are still in the early stages of seeing their impact on the American population's health care and care delivery systems.”
Photo: Getty Images, Andrei Popov
