Closing healthcare’s digital adoption gap

Healthcare’s digital challenge is no longer simply a telehealth challenge. The larger opportunity is to redesign the full patient journey so care feels connected before, during and after the appointment. For many organizations, the real gap is not whether virtual care exists. It is whether patients can move easily across scheduling, portals, follow-ups, payments, prescriptions and specialist coordination without confusion, repetition or delay.

That matters because healthcare continues to lag other sectors in digital experience satisfaction, and non-use remains a serious signal. A meaningful share of consumers still do not use healthcare digital services at all. Among older adults, the gap is even clearer: satisfaction is lower and non-use is higher, even though these are often the people who could benefit most from easier access, simpler self-service and clearer guidance. The lesson is straightforward. Healthcare does not just have an experience problem. It has an adoption problem rooted in trust, usability and continuity.

Telehealth helped prove that patients will use digital services when those services solve a real problem. Research showed strong willingness to use virtual care for follow-up questions, prescriptions, existing conditions, treatment questions and determining whether an in-person visit is needed. Patients also reported positive experiences when digital care was easy to use, personalized and well connected to medical information.

But the next chapter is bigger than the virtual visit itself. Patients do not experience care as isolated channels. They experience a journey. A scheduling flow, a pre-visit form, a telehealth appointment, a referral, a lab result, a bill and a prescription refill all shape whether care feels manageable or frustrating. This is why the greater opportunity is distributed care: a connected model where digital supports the entire relationship, not just one encounter.

In this model, digital health is not about adding more touchpoints. It is about removing friction across the moments that matter most. Patients should not have to stitch together disconnected systems on their own. Search, scheduling, communications, records, payment and next steps should feel like one coherent experience.

Healthcare leaders often focus on satisfaction among current digital users. That matters, but it tells only part of the story. The under-engaged patient is just as important. Many people do not avoid digital because they oppose it in principle. They avoid it because they expect it to be confusing, incomplete or hard to trust.

Across digital experiences more broadly, consumers consistently point to three familiar breakdowns: weak user experience, information that is not tailored or clear enough and journeys that do not provide complete end-to-end service. In healthcare, those problems carry more weight because the stakes are higher. Patients may be trying to act while sick, stressed, caregiving for someone else or navigating cost concerns. When the experience is cluttered or unclear, abandonment is not just a commercial issue. It can delay care.

Older adults illustrate this especially well. Research shows they are less likely to use healthcare digital services and more likely to prioritize clarity and accessibility over novelty. This does not mean they do not want digital. It means they need digital experiences that are easier to understand, easier to navigate and more reassuring to use.

Closing the adoption gap requires a shift in design philosophy. Healthcare organizations cannot build only for digitally fluent patients and assume everyone else will follow. They need to design for the hesitant user from the start.

That means simpler interfaces, fewer steps and plain-language content that reduces cognitive effort. It means larger tap targets, consistent navigation and mobile experiences that do not break at the exact moment someone is trying to book or change an appointment. It means clearer explanations of what a service is, whether it should be virtual or in person, how much it may cost and what happens next.

Clear content is especially important. Consumers across industries say they want clearer descriptions of products and services, and boomers are the most likely to prioritize this. In healthcare, that insight should not be treated as cosmetic. Clear content helps patients decide, prepare and proceed with confidence. It builds trust before technology ever gets a chance to impress.

Patients are explicit about the tools they want. Better mobile scheduling stands out as a top priority. They also want more useful online portals, appointment alerts, personalized communications and self-service options that help them manage information without unnecessary calls or office visits.

These are not secondary enhancements. They are foundational capabilities for adoption. Scheduling is often the first make-or-break moment in a digital journey. If patients cannot quickly find the right appointment type, understand availability or complete the process on mobile, the rest of the experience is already compromised.

Portals also need to evolve. Too many still operate like repositories rather than guides. Patients do not need a digital filing cabinet. They need a practical front door where they can prepare for a visit, review instructions, ask a question, manage follow-up actions, check bills, access records, refill prescriptions and stay oriented as they move between providers and settings.

Convenience matters, but healthcare adoption depends on something deeper: confidence. Patients need confidence that the right information will be available at the right moment, that support will be easy to access and that they will not have to start over every time they switch channels or providers.

This is where distributed care becomes a strategic imperative. Many healthcare journeys involve multiple specialists, multiple systems and multiple administrative steps. Without continuity, digital adds burden instead of reducing it. With continuity, it can make the entire experience feel more human. Referrals become easier to manage. Follow-ups become clearer. Prescriptions, bills and records become part of the same relationship rather than separate chores.

Patients are also more open to personalized experiences when that personalization is useful and respectful. In healthcare, personalization should help surface the right next step, tailor reminders, support health goals and reduce irrelevant effort. It should make the experience simpler, not more intrusive.

This opportunity extends across the healthcare landscape. Health systems can reduce friction in patient access and follow-up. Payers can simplify service, information and payment journeys. Retail health players can differentiate by making care more navigable, more transparent and more convenient across physical and digital settings.

The common priority is not launching more channels for their own sake. It is building a more connected platform for care journeys. When data, experience design and service flows work together, organizations can create interactions that are clearer for patients and more efficient for the business.

The future of digital health will not be defined by telehealth alone. It will be defined by whether organizations can turn fragmented interactions into connected experiences that patients actually want to use. That means designing for trust, clarity and continuity across the full journey, especially for the under-engaged patient.

Healthcare does not need more digital noise. It needs less friction. The organizations that close the adoption gap will be the ones that make care easier to find, easier to understand and easier to manage across every critical moment. That is how digital becomes more than another channel. It becomes part of better care.

Relevant Links

• Digital Life Index: People Demand Seamless Experiences
• Digital Life Index: People Demand Seamless Experiences
• Seamless experiences used to be talked about as a retail advantage. Today, they are a cross-industry mandate.
• Seamless digital experience design is no longer a universal design problem. It is a regional strategy problem.
• The Next Generation of Seamless Experiences
• France : faire du commerce digital un levier de confiance, de fluidité et de croissance (Europe)
• México ante el nuevo imperativo del comercio digital: menos fricción, más confianza y experiencias que sí resuelven (LATAM)
• FAQ (FAQ)
• 12 Things Buyers Should Know About Publicis Sapient’s Digital Commerce Research and Strategy (LIST)