When my late husband was diagnosed with late-stage cancer, he turned to me and said “Carolyn, I’m the battlefield. You’re the general.” I had never faced such a steep challenge. Luckily, I was pretty well qualified for the job. I had spent more than a decade as the global pharmaceutical practice leader and developed a network of advisors that could get him the best care as well as an experimental cancer treatment to extend his life.
As technology and governmental policy push healthcare companies to shift focus to the patient and prevention, a key part remains missing: the health care decision maker. In research from the Center for Talent Innovation — “The Power of the Purse: Engaging Women Decision Makers for Healthy Outcomes” — we surveyed more than 9,000 respondents and interviewed more than 70 in five countries to better understand female health care decision makers.
We found 59 percent of women make health care decisions for others and that number skyrockets to 94 percent among working mothers. This group is determining a wide range of health care habits for others. Yet 58 percent of women lack confidence in their decisions. Why?
- Lack of time: 77 percent don't do what they know they should to stay healthy; 62 percent say it's because they lack the time.
- Lack of knowledge: Although 53 percent think the Internet is the best available source of information, only 31 percent trust the information they find online.
- Lack of trust: 78 percent do not fully trust their health insurance provider; 83 percent do not fully trust pharmaceutical companies. Only 41 percent trust their pharmacists and only 65 percent trust their physicians.
These unmet needs lead to low confidence, indecisive behavior, high anxiety and, among the women we interviewed, a dispiriting sense that health care leaves decision makers out of the loop. Without investing another nickel in new products, companies can communicate with women and arm them with the information, respect and trust they seek to make better decisions.
Companies spend millions of dollars to map the “patient journey” and moments of truth for patients. But what they’re missing along the journey are the moments of truth of health care decision makers — when she makes decisions for the patient, gives guidelines to the caregivers, and what tools she needs to do that well. In fact, we find this segment of the market merits its own classification: the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the home. The CMO is the “universal” customer because she is disease- and product-agnostic.
In 2012, I was named the “Woman of the Year” by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA). The women leaders and their companies who are members of the HBA could rally around this idea of the CMO journey and create the roadmap that companies could tailor for their own use.
Elevate and listen to the women in your companies. Programs to give women leadership positions and to change cultures to leverage women’s experiences to inform their workplace strategy, will help scale those individual experiences systemwide.
The outcome? Truly a win-win-win: for women, health-care companies and patient health.
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