Healthcare is deeply personal—yet for many US consumers, it feels distant, costly, and confusing, eroding already fragile trust. Restoring trust will require organizations to consistently deliver on their brand promises by meeting expectations in ways that reflect a clear understanding of individual and subpopulation needs, note McKinsey Partners Jenny Cordina and Jessica Buchter and coauthors. Expectations and satisfaction vary across the healthcare journey, and a McKinsey survey reveals meaningful gaps: For example, pregnant women emphasize the importance of having the right insurance coverage, but many say they struggle to find plans that meet their needs. Healthcare organizations that use AI effectively are beginning to close these gaps, enabling more transparent, tailored experiences.
Image description.
Bubble-chart depicting healthcare consumers' expectations and satisfaction across various stages of their healthcare journey, categorized by clinical needs: Pregnancy, Longitudinal need, Complex polychronic, Specialty treatable, Primary care treatable, and Well-being.
Twelve journey stages are listed horizontally, including Shopping for insurance, Paying premium, Receiving notices, Wellness, Pharmacy, Finding care, Referrals, Claims, Searching for cost info, Paying for care, Looking for information, and Switching plans.
"Pregnancy" has particularly large bubbles for "Shopping for insurance," "Receiving notices," and "Looking for information," indicating significantly higher importance.
"Specialty treatable" stands out with exceptionally large and highly shaded bubbles at "Searching for cost info" and "Switching plans," reflecting both very high importance and high satisfaction levels.
"Primary care treatable" and "Well-being" both emphasize "Wellness" and "Looking for information," showing these moments as especially crucial to these segments.
The chart uses a scale of low, medium, and high importance, indicated by semicircle icons. The data is based on a 2025 McKinsey survey of 3,034 US healthcare consumers.
This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: 2025 McKinsey Consumer Health Insights Survey, 3,034 US consumers, May 2025
End of image description.
