Technologies incorporating multiple types of patient data & external environmental factors are changing healthcare – Innovation in Healthcare
“Innovation is moving at a scarily fast pace.” Bill Gates
Why is innovation in healthcare such a complex thing? We live in a time of innovation, where the creation & designing of data, machine learning for medical purposes & the further integration of robotics are on the rise. The introduction of Telemedicine and the increasing use of Robotics & AI in Healthcare is changing how this industry works. We also see an industry that still struggles to benefit from such technological advances to the same extent as many other industries. Innovation brings its own issues, for example, integrating new technologies into already existing processes & allowing time for people to adapt, in an industry where time is such a commodity. Below we will take a look at the US Healthcare system.
Can we achieve Innovation In Healthcare in 3 steps?
According to HBV “Three kinds of innovation can make health care better and cheaper. One changes the ways consumers buy and use health care. Another uses technology to develop new products and treatments or otherwise improve care. The third generates new business models, particularly those that involve the horizontal or vertical integration of separate health care organizations or activities.” Sounds simple right?
Step 1. Focus On The Consumer
When you are providing a service, focusing on the needs of the consumer should be your main focus but we are still seeing an industry with massive investments struggling to do this. What is the missing link?
Innovation can benefit healthcare can transform the entire system. Innovation has the potential to make healthcare affordable by developing treatments that can be cost effective – this will relieve stress & lead to an empowered customer. This can happen in the form of a healthcare plan that allows members greater control over their personal health spending.
Step 2. It Keeps Coming Back To Technology
With innovation, there must come technology. We have seen incredible advancements in terms of medication, diagnostic methods & in general better treatment options. Innovation within IT has allowed for patient information to be stored in a more convenient manner giving medical professionals access to this information with ease. Such systems may appear to be costly to implement however, they have been proven to cut costs overall. Therefore, it greatly impacts how patients providers receive important information. Without a doubt, this mitigates any the loss or mishandling of information.
Step 3. What Is The Business model
Focusing specifically on the US for the purposes of this article, we see that it is an increasingly fragmented market. For example; “More than half of U.S. physicians work in practices of three or fewer doctors; a quarter of the nation’s 5,000 community hospitals and nearly half of its 17,000 nursing homes are independent, and the medical device and biotechnology sectors are made up of thousands of small firms.”
Innovative business models, can increase efficiency, improve care, and save consumers time. We look at 2 options, horizontal integration—to generate economies of scale. Or you can bring the treatment of a chronic disease under one roof—vertical integration—and make the treatment more effective and convenient.
How exactly should an innovative business model be implemented into an industry with such an incredible divided market?
In a podcast released earlier this month, James Stanford of Fitzroy Health discusses how innovative ideas in health care need a new business model. “There is a massive opportunity to improve quality and satisfaction in health care, while also eliminating $600 billion of waste.”
Corporate Parity presents the 3rd Annual Healthcare Insurance Innovation Summit where leading experts share their latest findings, in order to answer some important questions such as;
“How to improve the well-being of the population?” & “What the future holds for health insurance companies?”
Also check our upcoming events page.