Cognitive Design

A lot of my consulting work centers on using cognitive design to encourage health behavior change. Using insights into how our minds actually work, I design messaging, programs, systems, incentives, environments and other artifacts that help people achieve lasting behavior change.  So I am always on the look out for new studies that shed practical light on the issue.

For example, the Customer Experience Matters Blog  has an interesting post that looks at who patients take advice from and what it takes to get them to act on it.   Some of the survey findings are what you would expect (e.g. we trust doctors more than insurance companies when it comes to taking medical  advice) but one surprise is:

“As it turns out, about half of consumers that are satisfied with their recent interactions with pharma companies and health plans are likely to follow medical advice from those firms.”

While about half might not seem like much that is up from less than 10% of those that are not satisfied.

The willingness to act on medical advice jumps up significantly when consumers feel satisfied with the interaction.

This holds true with taking medical advice from doctors too. The percentage increases over 50%!  An important finding as it means patient satisfaction scores play a key role in achieving health outcomes at least when it comes to conditions requiring continued compliance with a treatment plan.