By Andrew Anthony

Digital technology touches nearly every aspect of our lives—from entertainment and the workplace to healthcare and health insurance and beyond. Even within each of these categories there are nearly innumerable forms of digital technology, ranging from more established technologies such as broadcast television or your insurer’s phone tree, to much more recent technologies such as recommendation algorithms on social media and AI-supported searches. Deft Research’s studies Medicare Digital Tools and Individual and Family Plan Digital Tools explore a variety of healthcare-focused applications for digital technology. These studies cover a range of topics, from wearable fitness trackers to health insurers’ online portals and even seniors’ experiences with online scams.

In addition to these topics, as with all of our syndicated surveys, we also asked our respondents some demographic and categorizing questions as well as a final wrap-up question asking them to briefly describe what the survey they just took was about. Our goal when asking this question is to filter out respondents who can’t remember as a way of making sure we have high-quality data. While most respondents gave some version of “health insurance and technology,” a sizable minority referenced one or two specific topics that stood out to them in their memory.

Technology to support aging in place and the concept of healthcare while one ages were mentioned by many senior respondents. As one-on-one interviews for this study show, aging can be a fraught topic for seniors, especially in the context of being able to stay in one’s own home or not. Seniors may not have specific plans in mind and may not enjoy thinking about it, but aging is definitely on their minds.

Telemedicine and virtual care were also top-of-mind for many respondents. This topic is discussed in both the Medicare and IFP Digital Tools Studies and was recalled by both seniors and IFP members alike, though less frequently than aging in place among seniors. While the acute need for telemedicine brought on by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic may be abating, the topic is still memorable to many.

Artificial intelligence was salient for many IFP members and seniors. While the topic was often mentioned generically as “AI,” others were more specific, citing the interaction of AI with healthcare or health insurance. Should AI become ubiquitous in healthcare and health insurance, there may be a point at which the topic stands out less to respondents. But for now, the topic continues to catch the attention of both seniors and IFP members.

For more information about seniors’ opinions about technology around aging in place, telemedicine, AI, and more, see the 2024 Medicare Digital Tools Study. For more information about IFP members’ views on telemedicine, AI, and more, see the 2024 Individual and Family Plan Digital Tools Study.