The 2024 Healthcare Consumer

How the Internet and Social Media Are Affecting Patient Choices

Report by Rajiv Leventhal  | UPDATED: Apr 29, 2024
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Executive Summary
Today’s healthcare consumers are eager to obtain medical information online
Online-acquired information influences consumers’ healthcare decisions
What are the implications for healthcare and pharma brands and marketers?
Methodology
Sources
Media Gallery
About This Report
Consumers are using the internet and social media to a great extent for healthcare purposes. Here’s what healthcare and pharma marketers need to know about how online-acquired information influences patient action.
Topics
Digital Health
Internet Activities
Consumer Behavior
US
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Today’s healthcare consumers are eager to obtain medical information online
Online-acquired information influences consumers’ healthcare decisions
What are the implications for healthcare and pharma brands and marketers?
Methodology
Sources
Media Gallery

Our December 2023 survey of 1,391 US consumers reveals how they’re using digital channels for healthcare research and discovery and how online-acquired information—and misinformation—influences patient action.

Key Question: How is information acquired online affecting consumers’ healthcare decisions?

Online Sources Used by US Consumers to Self-Diagnose a Condition, Dec 2023 (% of respondents)
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Key Stat: More than half (54%) of US consumers have self-diagnosed a medical condition based on information obtained online. Search engines and medical information websites are most commonly used to arrive at those self-diagnoses.

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Table of Contents

  1. Executive Summary
  2. Today’s healthcare consumers are eager to obtain medical information online
  3. Online-acquired information influences consumers’ healthcare decisions
  1. What are the implications for healthcare and pharma brands and marketers?
  2. Methodology
  3. Sources
  1. Media Gallery

Charts in This Report

Online Sources Used by US Consumers to Self-Diagnose a Condition, Dec 2023 (% of respondents)Types of Health-Related Research US Consumers Conduct Online, Dec 2023 (% of respondents)
US Consumers Who Use Social Media and AI to Begin Their Online Research for Medical Information, by Generation, Dec 2023 (% of respondents per group)US Consumers Who Compare Prices for Medications, Medical Services, or Health Insurance Plans, by Generation, Dec 2023 (% of respondents)
Digital Channels Where US Consumers See/Hear Healthcare Ads*, Dec 2023 (% of respondents)Healthcare Services, Medications, or Treatments That US Consumers Have Purchased Online* in the Past Year, Dec 2023 (% of respondents)
How Often US Consumers' Online Self-Diagnoses Are Proven Correct (% of US consumers who have self-diagnosed a medical condition, Dec 2023)US Social Media Users Who Engage With or Follow Health Influencers on Social Media, by Generation, Dec 2023 (% of respondents)
Likelihood of Patients Getting Faulty Medical Information From GenAI, According to US Physicians, Aug 2023 (% of respondents)

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First Published on Apr 26, 2024

authors

Rajiv Leventhal

Contributors

Jennifer Pearson
VP, Research
Yoram Wurmser
Principal Analyst