Why not in-person?

A segmentation of people’s drivers for telehealth over in-person health services

Telehealth is very young in its take-up. Below I attempt to break down people’s key drivers for wanting telehealth over in-person health services (we tried to make it MECE..).

Telehealth has traditionally only focused on very few of these categories, mainly convenience. A lot more is to come.

Formulated with Sjoerd over lunch ❤

Where the magic happens: The Hoffice (= home office)

1. convenience: do not need to travel for the service e.g. busy professional at PWC
2. safety: avoid location where there’s a higher risk of co-infection e.g. at-risk individuals shielding during covid
3. changing location: you need to access the service while you are changing locations e.g. BCG consultant at client site
4. geography: no-one is sufficiently local e.g. you live in the remote countryside
5. language: no-one speaks the language e.g. exchange student / expat who doesn’t speak the local language
6. norms/culture: no-one provides it because it’s “shameful” e.g. male mental health / female reproductive health in conservative cultures
7. rare requirement: no-one has sufficient specialist knowledge e.g. rare skin condition, niche sport expertise
8. mobility: physically cannot in-person e.g. people who: have social anxiety; are disabled; can’t access transport; are depressed
9. quality: you want to access higher quality than your area offers e.g. wealthy newcomer in an area with less developed healthcare
10. cost: no-one provides a low-enough price e.g. someone on minimum wage in an urban centre
11. effort: in-person is too much effort for a short check-in e.g. the best solution is small, daily check-ins
12. belief in solution: no-one provides the constrained solution given your non-mainstream beliefs e.g. Chinese herbal medicine in a small Costa Rican town

What am I missing?

Please let me know via the normal channels, or email if you’re old school: me@richardcartwright.co