As millennials rise, health consumer behavior changes

Now that millennials have begun to outnumber baby boomers and Gen Xers in the workplace, they’re changing the way employees use health care, according to new research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The nonprofit’s Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey found that millennials are:

• More than twice as likely as baby boomers to use a walk-in clinic. Thirty percent of millennials have used a walk-in clinic, compared to 14% among baby boomers and 18% among Gen Xers.
• More than twice as likely to be interested in telemedicine than baby boomers—40% of millennials compared with 19% among baby boomers and 27% among Gen Xers.
• More likely than other generations to have researched health care options, such as checking the quality or rating of a doctor or hospital (51% millennial vs. 34% Gen X and 31% baby boomers) or using an online health cost tracking tool (28% millennial vs. 17% Gen X and 10% baby boomers).
• More than twice as likely as baby boomers to participate in counseling on stress management, mindfulness classes and resiliency training (33% millennial vs. 21% Gen X and 15% baby boomers).