Rising healthcare costs and friction in the system are creating new challenges for health system leaders, according to a new report from branding, marketing and communications firm BPD Healthcare. But asking the right questions and investing strategically can safeguard patients’ trust, volumes and growth opportunities.

In “The Patient Next Door,” the BPD team set out to answer several questions around the evolution of patient behaviors and the idea that health systems still often struggle, despite having more data than ever about consumers, to understand how patients are interacting with and understanding the healthcare system.

Cases in point are cost and access: Two-thirds of patients said they are changing their behavior if they run into problems around those issues. More than one in eight said they’ll delay care while 11 percent said they’ll switch providers and 9 percent told BPD they’ll altogether skip optional care.

Among other findings from the report are:

• Younger patients struggle more than other cohorts to make their way through the healthcare system: Members of Gen Z are more likely to be confused by the scheduling and referral processes than other generations and nearly one in three said they’re not sure about the follow-up process whereas only 15 percent of other generations report confusion about that element.
• On a related note, younger consumers are much less trusting of the healthcare system than other generations, with 26% of Gen Zers saying the system is “corrupt and designed to benefit a small group of wealthy people.” This cohort also is likely to engage with the system differently, often by researching digitally far more than older groups.
• Traditional primary care physicians are still highly trusted but nontraditional providers are gaining ground. More than half of respondents said they will still go to their primary care physician first for minor illnesses but trust of urgent care clinicians and other nontraditional options is growing—especially if they have physical locations, employ medical professionals or are affiliated with established health systems.

The BPD team outlined several other points and considerations for health systems and other providers to consider. Here are some key themes:

The patient experience is more crucial than ever

When asked what matters most in choosing providers, people clearly gravitated toward access and experience: Their top three responses were excellent patient experience, convenient locations and ease of scheduling appointments. Mallory Roman, BPD’s director of research and marketing science, said the firm’s research showed that 80 percent of people expect to be able to see their PCP in three days if needed. And once at the office, an even greater number expect to be seen within 30 minutes.

“So, a lot of indicators here that tolerance is low among customers but we’re not necessarily meeting that on the system side,” Roman said on a recent webinar that’s available here.

These priorities as well as the cost and access concerns create a set of key questions for health systems as they look to reduce the friction for patients, BPD Vice President of Innovation Emily Baker said:

• Are you clearly conveying coverage and cost information during the research and scheduling processes?
• Are you making it as easy for patients as they expect—and are getting from other buying experiences in 2026? Avoiding extra clicks on your website or on the phone?
• And are you managing expectations along the entire patient journey by communicating well?

Like it or not, AI is now the starting point

A bit of good news: More than three in five respondents to BPD said they rarely or never use artificial intelligence tools for medical questions or topics. But, unsurprisingly, younger patients trust the technology more than their older counterparts, which means the prime position health systems and other providers have long held in the information ecosystem is under threat.

Beyond the tactical response to that—optimizing your online presence to be highly visible and authoritative to AI engines—Kubis said the rise of AI also raises a big strategic question: Do you want to continue to own the patient relationship as before or is it worth considering a narrower role?

There’s no clear right or wrong answer, Kubis added, and some health systems are committing capital and consumer-facing technology tools to try to retain tight connections with their patients. But it’s worth remembering that competing with a chatbot that is around 24/7 and never gets tired is “a tough hill to climb.” No doubt, there’s much more to come on this front in the coming years.

Your marketing still matters

Despite the increasing fragmentation of the provider landscape, BPD’s research surfaced the idea that showing your face as a health system still very much matters. On top of that, most consumers don’t feel like they’re getting bombarded with healthcare marketing messages.

The key conclusion here is that systems should be more strategic than ever about consistently getting out word about service offerings and remaining top of mind for when patients turn to them. See also: Investing in tech tools that add convenience and reduce friction.

“If you’re not in the ether, showing people your marketing, getting your message out, telling people what you have to offer, you’re more in danger of losing market share than upsetting your customers,” Roman said.

A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde has more than two decades of business journalism experience and writes about markets and economic trends for Endeavor Business Media publications Healthcare Innovation, IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal and T&D World. With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati and later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal. Most recently, he oversaw the online and print products of the Nashville Post for more than a decade and reported primarily on Middle Tennessee’s finance sector as well as many of its publicly traded companies.