Bringing in the boomers: Potential growth for health market

While the boomer generation has long been considered an important demographic for marketers of products and services, experts say physicians also stand to gain by targeting the boomer patient.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. May 7, 2007.

No other generation has been studied, surveyed and monitored like the baby boomers when it comes to finding out where and on what they spend money.

And research has found the health care industry has the largest potential for growth as baby boomers continually search for products and services that will make them look and feel young.

But where does this quest to find the proverbial fountain of youth leave the primary care physician? Some will argue that, due to the sheer size of the boomer generation and the declining number of primary care physicians, there will never be a shortage of boomer patients. Plus, with much of a practice's revenue dependent on insurance and Medicare reimbursement, some question whether it's worth the money to do marketing.

Nevertheless, Kenneth Bollin, MD, a family physician with the St. John Family Medical Center in St. Clair Shores, Mich., said the boomers are an important generation that physicians need to accommodate. "If they weren't different from any other generation, there wouldn't be as much talk about them."

Changes made to accommodate the boomer patients are ones that future generations will come to expect, Dr. Bollin said. This generation grew up with the technology age, and much of the discussion between doctors and patients is fueled by outside media. If physicians can maintain their role as the source of trusted information and provide a convenient, patient-centered experience, doctors will certainly benefit, he added.