Alchemer Research Reveals Gender Divide in Healthcare Satisfaction Priorities

Business Wire

New research from Alchemer , a global leader in customer experience and feedback technology, reveals a gender divide in healthcare expectations, with men and women prioritizing different factors when evaluating their care experiences. The findings highlight new challenges for healthcare organizations working to strengthen patient satisfaction, loyalty and long-term retention.

Alchemer’s 2026 Healthcare Experience Report found that while overall patient satisfaction remains high at 93%, the factors driving trust, loyalty and provider switching differ sharply by gender. The research suggests healthcare organizations relying on one-size-fits-all patient experience strategies may be missing critical opportunities to improve retention and trust.

Among the report’s findings:

48.9% of women say poor communication would cause them to leave a provider
48% of men cite long wait times as the primary reason for switching providers
Women prioritize feeling heard, continuity of care and bedside manner
Men place greater emphasis on efficiency, convenience and speed
Men are more influenced by online reviews and ratings, while women rely more on provider websites and personal recommendations

“Healthcare organizations continue to measure patient satisfaction scores, but this metric alone is masking deeper loyalty issues,” said Jared Norris, SVP, Customer Success, Alchemer. “The reality is that patient experience means different things to different people. Women are telling healthcare providers they want stronger communication and deeper relationships, while men are signaling frustration with friction and inefficiency. We work closely with our healthcare customers to help them recognize the differences to avoid damaging patient trust.”

Patient Approaches to Finding Providers

The research also found significant differences in how patients search for healthcare providers. Men rely more heavily on digital discovery tools like Google search and online reviews, while women are more likely to use provider websites and personal referrals. Reviews also carry greater weight with men, with 76.7% calling them “extremely” or “very influential,” compared to 64.9% of women. These findings suggest healthcare systems using a uniform new patient acquisition strategy may be over-investing in channels that fail to resonate equally across patient groups.

Different Paths to Building Trust and Loyalty

Across all respondents, patients ranked “feeling listened to” (56%) and “clear communication” (44%) above clinical expertise as the top drivers of trust. However, the report found that loyalty forms differently by gender:

Women build loyalty through relationship quality, continuity and feeling heard
Men build loyalty through efficiency, convenience and seamless experiences

To further validate these findings, Alchemer analyzed 763 online Google reviews for four major U.S. health systems: HCA Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. HCA and Kaiser stood out for consistently strong patient comments around empathy, attentiveness and feeling cared for, which are themes closely tied to higher satisfaction ratings.

Retention Risks Vary by Gender

The report identified significant differences in the factors that cause patients to leave providers.

Trigger	Female	Male
Poor communication	48.9%	43.4%
Long wait times	41.8%	48.0%
Lack of trust	43.3%	36.5%
Insurance change	16.9%	26.2%

Women are significantly more likely to leave because of communication breakdowns or lack of trust, while men are more likely to leave over operational frustrations like wait times and insurance disruptions. Technology also plays a stronger retention role for men:

79.5% of men said technology improved their healthcare experience, compared to 66.5% of women
More men reported that technology helped reduce wait times (70.1% vs. 61.4%)

Takeaways for Healthcare Providers

The report concludes that healthcare organizations can no longer treat patient experience as a uniform metric. Patients evaluate care through different lenses, and successful providers should adapt accordingly. For healthcare leaders, the opportunity is clear: design patient experiences that balance both relationship building and operational efficiency. Organizations that personalize engagement strategies, act visibly on patient feedback and remove obstacles across the care journey will be best positioned to strengthen trust, improve retention and drive long-term patient loyalty.

Access the full report here.

About the Research

Alchemer’s Research Solutions team surveyed 866 patients across all age groups to understand how experiences vary across the healthcare journey. Respondents were 54% female and 45% male. To complement survey data, Alchemer also analyzed 763 online reviews from major U.S. health systems, including Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and HCA Healthcare.

About Alchemer

Alchemer empowers customers to do more with feedback. From a one-time survey to sophisticated feedback programs, Alchemer gives customer-obsessed teams the clarity to move from asking to action with powerful software and purpose-built AI. More than 11,000 organizations use Alchemer to collect feedback and connect it across their organizations through integration and automation. Founded in 2006, Alchemer is a KKR portfolio company. For more information, visit www.alchemer.com.