BOCA RATON, Fla., June 3, 2026, Healthcare consumers are researching symptoms, evaluating providers, and forming brand opinions using digital tools, including AI, before they ever engage with a health system. New national survey data from BPD Healthcare reveals how cost pressure, convenience expectations, and digital self-direction are fundamentally reshaping the healthcare decision journey, with implications for every health system executive thinking about growth.
The findings come from The Patient Next Door: Meet the New Healthcare Consumer, the inaugural report from the BPD Research Initiative, a recurring national survey program designed to give health systems timely insight into shifting consumer attitudes, preferences, and behaviors. Fielded monthly, the initiative tracks change across care access, service line selection, financial sensitivity, digital engagement, and brand trust.
Key Findings
- Decisions begin before the front door. Consumers are researching providers across reviews, insurance networks, search engines, and AI. More than 28% of adults ages 26-34 say that they always or often use AI for medical advice.
- Convenience is a deciding factor. Patient experience, at 34%, physical convenience, at 29%, and ease of scheduling, at 27%, rank as top drivers of care selection. Nearly three-quarters say convenience plays a major role.
- Cost is reshaping utilization. Sixty percent of consumers expect healthcare costs to increase. Two-thirds say they would change their behavior, and one in five say they would delay care.
- Patients are navigating alone. From scheduling to follow-up, consumers are increasingly self-directed, relying on accessible information, including marketing, to guide decisions.
“Healthcare leaders need to understand how people are choosing care today, not how they chose it five years ago,” said Jason Brown, founder and CEO of BPD Healthcare. “These findings reveal how consumer behavior has already shifted, and where health systems have the greatest opportunity to meet patients where they are.”
The BPD Research Initiative complements the firm’s proprietary intelligence platform, which integrates national claims data, consumer intelligence, and predictive modeling. Together, the platform and initiative provide a foundation for enterprise growth strategy, enabling health systems to strengthen market position, identify emerging opportunities, and align around measurable outcomes.
Initial findings and future monthly reports are available here.
For more information, please contact:
BPD Healthcare
Nicole James, SVP Communications
734-358-9247
njames@bpdhealthcare.com
About BPD Healthcare
A wholly-owned subsidiary of MJH Life Sciences, BPD Healthcare (BPD) partners with the nation’s most ambitious healthcare brands to architect measurable enterprise performance—strengthening the enterprise brand, engaging the highest value patient populations, aligning key clinical referral channels, accelerating service line growth, advancing community and philanthropic impact, and igniting workforce engagement. BPD provides fully integrated solutions that include strategic advisory, marketing and communications and data solutions & analytics. Our proprietary intelligence platform— powered by national claims data, consumer and physician signals intelligence, and predictive modeling—reveals where growth truly lives. And our team of industry thought leaders, innovators and operators turn that intelligence into decisive action and industry-leading ROI.
