A consumer segmentation model for empowered patients

We keep hearing the term empowered patients and empowered consumers but what does that really mean ?  Sure more and more consumers today are becoming empowered patients but there are certain levels of patient empowerment and they all have different behaviors.  Here is a segmentation model I did with a research company based on over a years worth of research. They tend to be mostly female because women are more proactive about their health and take their health more seriously then men.

From our research spanning almost a year here is what we believe to be a good segmentation model:

Pam Passive -  Pam is an empowered patient who tends to be more passive than other people within this segmentation.  She will research health conditions and medications but is often afraid to voice her concerns with her doctor.  She would rather briefly talk with her doctor about a health condition or recommended treatment and will usually do what her HCP suggests.  She may have serious concerns about an Rx’s side effects but to her “her doctor knows best”.  She tends to go online after she sees her doctor and get’s an Rx and will go to different sites to fill in the picture.  She aligns herself with people who post stories based on her beliefs or assumptions.  Pam will use social media to read the posts but rarely will she engage with other via hew own posts.

Arlene Active -  Arlene is very proactive about her health and will research both health conditions and treatments as long as necessary to get the information she needs to make a decision.   She is just as likely to be researching health information for herself as a family member.  She will do what she feels is best and will engage HCP’s in dialogue.  Some HCP’s see this behavior as a challenge to their authority but Arlene needs answers to both make decisions and help her the stress of caring for someone or dealing with a serious health problem.  Arlene spends the most time online researching health treatments and conditions.  To her it’s about managing both the health problem and hearing how others live their lives when loved ones are effected. To Arlene knowledge is power and she wields that power with active engagement wit her HCP.  If she doesn’t like what she hears she is more likely to get a second opinion or fire her HCP.  She will also post her experiences on social media sites especially any negative experiences.

Cathy Compliant – Cathy tends is under the belief that her doctor knows best.  As such she may ask some probing questions but will do whatever her HCP recommends.  To her “her physician knows all” and is looking out for her best interests.  She feels that some treatments are going to have negative side effects but this is the price they have to pay for medicine and treatments.  She will follow up with her doctor and pharmacist and will take her medications as directed.  She may go online but is often confused about all the health information out there so she depends more on friends and family members to direct her to good health information. Cathy is also an empowered patient because although she follows her physicians advice she “wants to know what is going on”.

Thelma Tired -  Thelma is the oldest segment usually in her mid 70′s + and has dealt with serious health problems before.  They have taken a lot out of her and to her the cure often means losing control of her life and going to a range of physicians to get treatment.  Thelma is tired of it all and the treatment has taken the fun of life away from her.  She doesn’t want to know about new treatments or talk to her doctor, in fact she would prefer to let her illness take its course even if it means the end of life.  S. Thelma is an empowered patient because she choses not to follow her HCP’s advice or direction because she feels that it’s just not worth it to continue to try and fight off some serious health conditions like cancer because she is tired of “the battle”.  To her the battle is over she just wants it to be over and gradually accepts her fate.

Please note that we found there was a direct correlation between the seriousness of the health condition, in the patients view, and the amount of time they spend online to become empowered patients.   Also note that going online seems to reassure others while others get more tend to get more confused by difficult to read and understand health information.