ZEST insights

When we talk about ‘next-generation’ medicine, we tend to think about advances in treatments, diagnostic tools or preventative approaches such as vaccines. But what about ‘next-generation’ healthcare providers?

Currently in Australia, over 60% of GPs belong to the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation - defined as those born between 1946 and 1964. And just over 14% of our GPs are ‘Builders’ – born between 1925 and 1945. But over the next few years, as the Builders and older Boomers move into retirement, our GPs will become predominantly Generation X. 

So what does this mean; what’s going to change? 

Traditionally, a generation was defined as the average time between the birth of parents and offspring – roughly around 30 years. However, with the arrival of the Baby Boomers, generations have instead become defined by societal values, the emergence of new technologies and the influence of world events. As a result, Baby Boomers and Generation X have very different values, approaches to technology and, as a result, different communication styles. 

Generation X was born into the technology boom. This means that they readily embrace new technologies and have adapted their communication style to take advantage of them. Gen X are highly computer- and internet-literate, regularly use mobile technology and have an expectation for instant digital communication. Contrastingly, the Boomers can be very wary of the internet and mistrust the security of digital channels. 

As our predominant GP population shifts from Boomer to Gen X, and the even more technology-dependent Gen Ys start graduating from medical school, the way we interact with our GPs will therefore change. There’s already been a shift towards digital patient records, electronic appointment systems, and electronic prescribing software, but Gen X doctors will lead the drive to take digital healthcare to the next level. Personal health records stored on smart-cards? Test results over email? Instant online chat with your GP? Skype consultations? Next generation medicine really could revolutionise our healthcare.  

This is great news for pharma marketing, as new opportunities arise to communicate with both doctors and patients and to provide value-added support to help Gen X doctors bring their practices up to date. Here at ZEST we’re keeping a close eye on developments in this area and our digital team is already creating novel communications systems that put our clients at the forefront of next-generation medicine.   

At ZEST we love a revolution. Call us on 02 9409 7600 to find out how you can be part of this one.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 12:16 pm by Elly Brookes and is filed in the category Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.