DPS to share insights into the digital future of aged care consumerism
One of the nation’s leading aged care multiplatform media companies is preparing to share their years of experience, knowledge and consumer research driven insights into the digital future of aged care consumerism, with a focus on their new Marketplace and Consumer Ratings, as part of the upcoming Customer Experience in Aged Care conference, presented by Criterion Conferences.
DPS CEO Mark Ogden will be talking about the company’s consumer research driven insights at the upcoming Customer Experience in Aged Care conference, presented by Criterion Conferences (Source: DPS)
Chief Executive Officer of DPS, the creators of AgedCareGuide.com.au and the DPS Guide to Aged Care, Mark Ogden will travel to the conference in Sydney from 22-23 May to share the organisation’s more than 20 years of insights with attending aged care consumers, providers, and other organisations.
Mr Ogden says he is excited to be bringing DPS’ experiences, knowledge and products to a national audience, and to highlight the important role consumers play in the way forward for the aged care industry.
“I was approached by the coordinators of this conference who I had shared some of our insights with previously and they asked me to be involved because of the benefit they see in DPS helping to share the views and approach of the industry on the topic of customer experience in aged care,” he explains.
“This is our core business at DPS – we empower consumers through informed choice, which is why it is important for us to be ahead of the game and really understand how consumers seek, absorb and use information.
“We play a vital role in the industry in connecting consumers actively looking for services with providers who deliver those services – and we do it well.
“We distribute nearly 150,000 Guides each year and have 1.6 million unique visitors to our website, so we already have a pretty good understanding of what content consumers are looking for and how they wish to consume it.”
The DPS insights Mr Ogden will be sharing as part of the conference include: the way advancements in digital technology are changing how consumers search and select providers in aged care; what the current gaps are in the digital consumer journey and how these are likely to be closed, and; how organisations can best prepare to both take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risks.
Mr Ogden says the topics that DPS will present will reflect heavily on the work the company has undertaken over the past six months to further understand the consumer and improve their interaction with the aged care sector.
“Late last year, we completed a comprehensive consumer research study that outlined how consumer needs are changing and the current gaps in how they inform themselves and make decisions,” he explains.
“This formed the basis of recent initiatives we have announced which go towards closing these gaps and empower consumers even more so.
“Aged care consumers are looking for greater transparency when selecting a provider to deliver their required service, and the tried and tested way they do this is through consumer ratings and reviews.
“However, we believe the real value comes from creating a dialogue between the consumer and the provider, which highlights why it is important for us to help providers understand the overall positive implications for them by engaging with this type of solution.
“Our comparison tool – or Marketplace – is just another way that we are aiming to support the connection and positive interaction between consumers and providers because we know that consumers are currently having to contact providers individually to gather information they can use to compare one against the other.
“This is a very inefficient process and, on the whole, is not delivering an ease of comparison for consumers but our tool changes this.
“It is important that we provide choice for consumers, hence we are working hard with the industry to ensure the majority of providers continue to engage with this tool.
“We also need to continue to provide transparency and value in the process, not only because it is the right thing to do, but it ensures ongoing benefit and credibility in a marketplace comparison tool.
“All of this can make an immediate and positive impact on all parties, but, the outcomes do depend on how the broader industry embraces these new concepts, which is something I hope to encourage through my time on stage.”
Mr Ogden will be speaking on day two (23 May) of the Customer Experience in Aged Care conference, and will share the stage with other people from within the Australian aged care sector who are also working on, planning and developing new approaches, as well as international guests from the UK and organisations from outside of the sector.
More information on the conference and a full list of the speaker line up can be found online.
