Chatterbox Nation: How Consumers Use Live Video Chat in Healthcare

Communication is constantly being redefined by technology. To succeed in today's digital age, businesses must move with the ever-evolving communications landscape, and the healthcare industry is no exception.

Providers who want to engage existing patients—and attract new ones—must stay on the pulse of how and where consumers communicate and swiftly meet them on those channels.

With rising healthcare costs and demand for quality care, staying ahead of patient communication preferences is more critical than ever before.

Is Your Healthcare Organization Ready for the Next Big Customer Communication Channel?

Since 2012, TokBox (now a part of Nexmo, the Vonage API platform) has examined one of the fastest-growing communication trends: consumer-to-business video chat.

Our consumer report—Video Chatterbox Nation—tracks the growth of video from a relatively niche channel used by less than half of Americans, to today, where it is fast becoming an equal channel to voice phone calls—not only socially but with businesses, too.

Today 1 in 3 Americans video chat once a week

Nearly 1 in 3 Americans video chat with a business—a 3x leap in 3 years

Now, we've taken a closer look at the state of live video in the healthcare industry, where video communications are playing an increasingly important role.

For anyone focused on customer experience or digital transformation in healthcare, the Video Chatterbox Nation Healthcare report provides an industry deep dive into consumer behavior and expectations around video chat, and a future outlook.

What we found will help you better understand consumer demand for live video in the healthcare industry, so you don't miss an opportunity to engage patients on this rising channel.

Live Video in Healthcare

Live video is the communication technology behind the rapidly growing global telehealth market, which is set to reach 16.7 billion U.S dollars by 2025.

Healthcare providers and insurers are embracing telehealth to enhance existing services and reimagine entirely new ones right across the industry—from specialized women's health services like Maven Clinic, to on-demand primary care services such as Kry, and platforms that help individual practitioners take their practice online including Doxy.me, SnapMD, and Simple Practice.

Live video-based healthcare is helping providers drive down costs and scale their services to anywhere in the world. But what is driving consumer adoption of live video in healthcare?

Why Do Patients Want to Video Chat?

No patient wants to feel like a number. In today's world of healthcare, patients not only expect a convenient service, but also highly personalized and individualized care.

Our research shows that consumers choose to video chat because it creates a more personal experience compared to other channels. This presents a huge opportunity for healthcare providers to create personalized patient experiences using live video, while also delivering more affordable, accessible, and on-demand care.

How Do Consumers Video Chat in Healthcare?

From virtual consultations to post-op home monitoring, mental health, and fitness classes—here is a snapshot of how consumers are already using live video chat in healthcare, and where future demand lies:

• 1 in 4 people are using live video to chat with a doctor about a non-emergency condition such as renewing a prescription—this figure is set to double in 2019

• Nearly 1 in 2 consumers are willing to use live video for medical consultations

• More than 1 in 5 consumers are video chatting with a therapist for counseling or group therapy, and nearly 2 in 5 are interested

• Live video is also being used to help people stay healthy with 1 in 5 consumers taking fitness classes via an interactive live streaming service

• Mobile is the preferred device for video chat in healthcare

Meeting Consumer Demand for Video Chat in Healthcare

To stay relevant in the increasingly competitive healthcare landscape, innovators need to be ready to meet consumer demand for live video—and they need secure, reliable technology to deliver it at scale.

Whether building a new service from the ground up, or using live video to complement an existing healthcare service, it's now easier than ever to embed live video into your web and mobile apps with our live video APIs.

To see how Bablyon Health uses live video for virtual consultations plus learn the 5 rules providers must follow to make live video a success, read the full report here: Video Chatterbox Nation Healthcare.

Chatterbox Nation is a series of posts where we explore how consumers are using live video chat across several key industries including healthcare, financial services, and education.