Yes, this is a weird title for a post. And I didn’t write it to say you should discriminate against any type of patient. I mention in my books that you should have an idea of what type of customer/client/patient you are going after. It’s called a “persona” or “avatar”. For example, some docs want Medicare or older patients. Others focus on young moms. And so on. You can define it any way you’d like but you probably should define it because that is how you focus your marketing.

So now let’s talk about millennials.

Here is an article called 4 Trends in the Way Millennials Approach Healthcare: From an insistence upon price transparency to increased awareness of mental health issues, how 26- to 40-year-olds are changing care, and caregivers. Wow, that’s a mouthful. Let’s give you some of their highlights:

• Virtual care options are vital – 80% of millennials prefer easy online access to traditional medical records and scheduling.
• Online access to providers and specialists – The days of having the same family doctor for decades seem to be over in our highly mobile society. Instead, millennials are increasingly fond of app-based services such as ZocDoc, through which they can search doctors by office location, availability, accepted insurance plans and other criteria.
• Personable and personalized care – They tend to be more vocal about wanting providers who take the time to listen and show compassion, and who have an interest in both their mental and physical health. 
• Expectation of pricing transparency – This generational group of 26- to 40-year-olds frequently reports being tired of the old, “See the doctor first, know the cost later” method of care. Instead, they are increasingly looking for providers willing to be transparent about the costs of visits and procedures up front.

Now, do you want a millennial? Direct Primary Care does 3 out of 4 of the above so maybe you do? What stops me in my tracks, however, is the sentence above that states, “The days of having the same family doctor for decades seem to be over in our highly mobile society.” Do you really think loyalty to your practice is something high on their list? I don’t. And the highest turnover of patients I had in my practice were millennials. But maybe it was me?

What do you think?

Lastly, it is so sad that this author danced around DPC but kept mentioning corporate DINOs. You can see them all in the article. When will the media stop kissing their asses?