Attending the Consumer Electronic Show in January got me thinking about what it means to be a consumer. Is it even possible to create a definition that is functional and actionable?

The concept of “the consumer” is as old as recorded history and probably has its roots even farther back. People have had needs—and other people have found ways to satisfy those needs—since the beginning of time. At the very core of it, that may be the simplest definition of a consumer: one who has a distinct set of needs and the ability to seek out means to satisfy those needs to the highest level of efficiency, with the lowest level of sacrifice.

Why would we seek to define a consumer in the first place? Clearly, if there is a need out there, businesses, groups, constituencies and individuals will be interested in finding a way to satisfy that need in exchange for compensation of some sort.

The tough part is that the needs of the consumer are great in volume, number and diversity, representing the uniqueness that is the human race. Every person, household, business and population has a set of needs that are unique, and yet still have some commonalities that can help steer the course of those lining up to serve them.

In the following dialogue, I would like to explore what this means in the context of health benefits strategies and how to service, support and “supercharge” them.

Back to CES for a moment. The show is full of tremendous opportunities to engage and capture—might I say enslave—consumers in the world of gadgets and techno-wizardry. More than 3,300 exhibitors show their wares to more than 165,000 attendees across 3.2 million-square feet of convention space.

The same awe I saw on faces as I strolled around the show might be tough to re-create in the venue of health care consumerism, but even health care was represented. The digital health section of the show has grown exponentially in the last three to four years, now with more than 200 exhibitors showcasing innovations at the convergence of consumer electronics and health/fitness/wellness.

Among the offerings were wireless, biometric tracking devices, real-time brainwave measurement, cost transparency decision support applications and nutritional pacing devices.

The latter example came from HAPIFork. The company displayed its pacing device, designed to help consumers effectively pace (and track) the speed of their “food consumption events”. Consumers can receive real-time feedback, via vibrations in their HAPIFork, when their pace is too quick.

More than 30 million wireless medical and health-related devices were sold in 2012. Productslike FitBit, MyFit “Shine” and Body Media provide a range of functionality that allow consumers to measure and create longitudinal tracking patterns for heart rate, temperature, weight/BMI, altitude, skin moisture content and sleep patterns.

In 2012 alone, 134 digital health startup companies raised more than $2 million each in an effort to embrace the opportunities developing as the explosive growth of consumer strategies continues in the health care space.

Investments are primarily targeted at consumers but address the foundation of the delivery engine itself. Across this industry we'll all have to grapple with the impact of this sweeping investment in how to create, support and sustain consumer populations in the health care system.

Do we 'consume' health?

If we buy into the concept that consumers exist in health care, what does it mean to consume health? Can we consume health care— or even better, health—in the same way we consume an iPhone5, a wireless tablet or a 100-inch LED flatscreen TV? We might be able to answer that question if we look at the behavior that's part of those purchasing activities. We could argue this same flow exists in some part in the health care purchase event today.

Initial attraction. Consumers are initially drawn to a potential purchase by something that is personally relevant, interesting or attractive to them. We're drawn to the concept of better health—and it is used in the consumer marketing space quite effectively today. Lots of images of healthy, smiling, happy people appear on the pages of wellness brochures.

Needs recognition and assessment. Sometimes before, but many times after the initial attraction, consumers have a self-dialogue around whether the potential purchase is a want or a need. In health care, this distinction is clearer and it's only the attributes of the alternatives that play into a want vs. need comparison.

Research, information accumulation and alternatives identification. Depending on what kind of buyer we are, we might spend more or less time identifying and evaluating alternatives. Urgency of need also drives the duration and depth of this part of the cycle. Health care purchases may or may not afford the luxury of time for research. Consumers in the health care equation are definitely challenged to get good and consistently credible information on all components of their alternatives.

Purchase decision and event. Data is all in and the consumer makes a selection that is “best” for them based on very personal weighting of price, quality, features and functionality. Whether this is really a purchase event or just following through on a recommendation from a primary care physician can determine the potential for consumer behavior influence.

Post-purchase behavior. Can include the impact of satisfaction or dissatisfaction on lifestyle, as well as concepts like buyer's delight or remorse. In many health care situations, the length of the post-purchase timeframe can extend far into the future, and either the positive or negative impact is tough to evaluate quickly. In any case, when the eventual “product” that is purchased is a presumably positive impact on my health status, I will definitely pay attention to whether that impact is realized or not, and all future purchasing decisions will be influenced by that result. Loyalty programs exist in health care consumerism

Can we be patients and consumers at the same time? Or are these titles mutually exclusive? Clearly, with the investments being made (as noted earlier) in tools, solutions and gadgets to enable the consumer in the healthcare space, the industry believes that consumers and patients can coexist in the same person. It may be that we all have a sliding scale of “healthy schizophrenia” as it relates to these two identities, taking on some of each depending on the urgency and complexity of a given situation. Any attempt to help employers effectively structure, implement and execute health benefit strategies will have to take that into account.

Creating real change

Finding that balance between consumer and patient can unlock a host of long-term, repeatable behaviors that will reshape our perspective on health as a part of our lives. As we work to reshape our legacy approaches toward health benefits, three key focus areas can hold the keys to success.

Understand the consumer. Taking the time to create a deeper understanding of the consumer in all of us will always pay dividends. There is more data available today than at any time in the past around how we behave in healthcare purchasing situations. And with tens of millions of wireless data collection devices being sold each year, we will have an unprecedented look into patterns of behavior and health metrics. All of this data, paired with the underlying claims, will create a much more comprehensive knowledge of the healthcare consumer.

Engage the consumer. Engaging the healthcare system can no longer be a passive exercise. The skyrocketing cost and complexity of today's environment demands active participation from the consumer/patient. How effective we are at using incentives, organic motivation and plan design to invite and incite the consumer into action will mark the level of success that is possible.

Partner with the consumer. More than ever, consumers can feel as if they are on an island. I would argue that all of the constituents in the equation may have historically existed on their own “islands,” creating an archipelago of disconnected dysfunction. Unique partnerships are being formed today that ask the consumer to behave differently and in exchange provide a pathway to better health and financial wellness. These partnerships will be at the heart of reinventing how the system works.

If we can agree that moving away from the definition of consumer as a “squanderer” is a shared, universal goal, we can find hope in the fact that we're at a turning point. More than ever before, our collective resources, strategy, investments and brainpower are fully behind unleashing the power of the healthcare consumer.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He is by constitution expensive, and needs to be rich.”

Providing the means for participants to be “rich” in health is what the age of the consumer is all about.

Bart Halling is vice president of customer solutions, for UMR, the third-party administrator unit of UnitedHealthcare.

Instant Insights /

The 21st century health care consumer

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