Healthcare organizations have an opportunity to better meet the evolving needs of Gen Z consumers in the United States. It may have been easy to overlook Gen Zers in the past, considering their relative youth.1 However, by 2030, a mere five years from now, almost the entire generation will have entered the workforce and is expected to account for upward of $165 billion in annual healthcare spend, up from $135 billion in 2022, after inflation. Gen Z’s interactions with the healthcare ecosystem will only expand.
Additionally, Gen Zers approach their health and wellness needs differently from other generations. They often turn to social media for information,2 but that means they’re also often exposed to a lot of misinformation. If healthcare organizations aren’t primed to connect with Gen Z where they are—and with accurate insights in a way that resonates with them—they risk missing out on building strong relationships as these younger patients enter the healthcare ecosystem as adults.
What’s different about Gen Z healthcare consumers
Gen Z, or Zoomers, consists of those born between 1996 and 2010. As the second-youngest generation—after millennials and before Generation Alpha—they are already entering the workforce and consuming healthcare services.
While some of Gen Z’s behaviors are likely to evolve over time, understanding their current behaviors and preferences can inform how to engage them now and into the future. One important behavior that will likely change is the way Gen Z interacts with providers. For example, in the 2024 McKinsey Consumer Health Insights (CHI) Survey (see sidebar, “Research methodology”), 66 percent of Gen Z respondents report having a primary care physician (PCP). As Gen Zers become more established healthcare consumers, their PCP needs will increase.
Another example is Gen Z respondents’ propensity to switch providers: 77 percent of Gen Zers have considered a different provider in the past 24 months, compared with 73 percent of millennials, 56 percent of Gen X, and 43 percent of baby boomers, according to the CHI Survey. In fact, in the 2024 McKinsey Consumer Retail Health Survey, 27 percent of Gen Z respondents actually switched doctors, compared with 23 percent of millennials and only 13 percent of Gen X and 7 percent of baby boomers. Of course, Gen Zers have some distinct characteristics that could make them more likely to change the providers they see, such as if they’re transitioning from a pediatrician to an adult care doctor, switching to their own health plan, or moving to a different location for college. Nonetheless, there’s still an opportunity to build lasting relationships with Gen Z patients now as they start to establish their go-to health systems and form perspectives on the trustworthiness of healthcare professionals.
Some Gen Z trends will likely continue, even as this group of patients gets older. For example, Gen Z tends to have lower levels of emotional and social well-being than older generations and may be more aware of and open to seeking out help for their mental health. Among Gen Z respondents, 30 percent report receiving care from a mental health professional in the prior 24 months, versus 14 percent of baby boomers.
Despite Zoomers reporting greater health needs, a smaller proportion of Gen Z respondents have annual wellness visits (47 percent compared with 72 percent overall), and a bigger proportion use emergency rooms (37 percent compared with 31 percent overall). While some level of emergency care is expected, given that Gen Zers may be more prone to accidents, using the emergency room because of a lack of access to a PCP or appropriate specialist can be mitigated. There’s substantial opportunity to improve both quality and cost outcomes by encouraging Gen Z to seek care early in their healthcare journey, when it matters most, such as through preventive care, and to help them reach the most appropriate site of care when care is needed.
How Gen Z engages with health and wellness content
These trends suggest that Gen Z would benefit from proactive and more informed involvement with the healthcare ecosystem. However, they’re not interacting with health and wellness content in the same ways as prior generations. Healthcare organizations can thus meaningfully adjust their approach to reach Gen Z effectively. The digital age has greatly influenced Gen Z’s identity. As the first generation of “digital natives,” Zoomers often turn to websites, apps, and social media for any kind of information, including news and reviews, prior to making a purchase.
This trend toward consuming content online and relying foremost on the internet for not only information but also insights seems to be evident in healthcare as well. Our survey shows a declining reliance on providers for health and wellness information for each successive generation and an increased use of social media (exhibit). So while 59 percent of baby boomers report turning to their doctors, only 42 percent of Gen Z felt the same. For Gen Z, social media is a close second (38 percent). Compare that to baby boomers, whose second-most prevalent information source is health insurance companies (34 percent), while social media ranks eight among ten options (with less than 6 percent turning to it).
The three most popular social media sites for Gen Z are YouTube (96 percent), Instagram (69 percent), and TikTok (72 percent).3 While there are popular communities on each platform that focus on targeted interests and specific health conditions, the most popular health-related content across all three platforms is about staying healthy. For example, some of the most viewed health-related videos on YouTube are chiropractor demonstrations, kid’s educational content, and dermatology treatment animations; on Instagram, the top health-related hashtags are #health, #healthylifestyle, #healthyfood, #wellness, and #mentalhealth; and on TikTok, it’s #health, #healthy, and #mentalhealthawareness, per our analysis.
However, social media’s increasing influence on health and wellness is coupled with broader concerns around misinformation. For example, a 2023 study on the quality of information posted on TikTok about sinusitis found that almost half of the videos were published by nonmedical influencers, and less than half of those categorized as educational were factual (46.7 percent).4 Medical professionals and healthcare organizations thus have an important role to play in filling this information void, correcting misinformation, and improving the quality of engagement with health and wellness content on social media.
As healthcare organizations seek to better connect with consumers online, they will need to understand and use a range of social media platforms, from social networks to media-sharing networks, discussion forums, and consumer review sites. Content on each platform should be tailored to match the needs and expectations of consumers—for example, YouTube can be used for explainer videos, Instagram for infographics, Reddit for promoted answers, and Zocdoc for encouraging patients to provide reviews postvisit. It is also important to have a strategy to monitor consumer perceptions and experiences, respond to feedback quickly and genuinely, spur amplification as consumers engage with and share content, and nudge behavioral change.
Additionally, the industry can go beyond online platforms and use other digital technologies for a broader approach that also supports Gen Z’s mental health and behavioral challenges. For example, wearable devices, health apps, and telehealth are promising tools to nudge Gen Zers to be more involved in their health and wellness needs and improve their experiences.
Historically, some healthcare organizations have not fully prioritized the youngest adults compared with other healthcare consumers. In doing so, they’ve missed opportunities to build trusting relationships early, which could have fostered longer-lasting patient loyalty. Organizations can learn from these prior experiences to avoid history repeating itself with Gen Z. Furthermore, at least some in this generation are also coming of age in an era of heightened public discontent with the healthcare ecosystem, alongside enhanced user experiences in other industries and a preference for online and digital interfaces. As a result, their expectations of how healthcare should be delivered are distinct from previous generations, and this trend will likely grow. Healthcare organizations should keep in mind that investing in capabilities tailored to boosting Gen Z’s engagement will not only meet their unique needs but also have staying power for future generations.
Andrew Ramish is a partner in McKinsey’s Washington, DC, office; Jenny Cordina is a partner in the Detroit office; Chin-Chin Lin is an asset leader in the Chicago office; and Eric Bochtler is a capabilities and insights expert in the Seattle office.
This article was edited by Querida Anderson, a senior editor in the New York office.
1. Merative MarketScan Commercial claims data (2022). Certain data used in this study were supplied by Merative as part of one or more Merative MarketScan Research Databases. Any analysis, interpretation, or conclusion based on these data is solely that of the authors and not Merative.
2. Flinta Rodrigues et al., “The social media infodemic of health-related misinformation and technical solutions,” Health Policy and Technology, June 2024, Volume 13, Number 2.
3. “Most used social media platforms among Gen Z and internet users worldwide as of September 2023,” Statista, February 2, 2024.
4. “A Social Media Quality Review of Popular Sinusitis Videos on TikTok,” American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, March 3, 2024.