Hacking Healthcare: Disruption and Innovation
The healthcare industry has long been considered a slow-moving ship that traditionally has been resistant to change. In the last few years, however, there has been an uptick of innovation and disruption, first due to the pandemic and now as we move into the new normal as disruptors that continue to move into the space. The announcement of Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical is another example of a wave of new players entering the healthcare space that seek to shake up the industry with innovative approaches to how healthcare products and services are delivered. Be it Walmart’s rapid ramp-up of its healthcare business, or Dollar General launching health clinics, these new players have been successful at identifying consumer needs and consistently creating better consumer-centric experiences by addressing current use cases in key opportunity areas while leveraging expertise in their respective industries.
Meeting The Consumer Needs
Amazon has long along solved the challenge of getting consumer goods to people’s front doors. They have created a frictionless experience where anybody can think of a product they want, order it from any device, and two days later arrives at their doorstep. Their pharmacy offering seeks to do the same thing, approaching prescription drugs as a consumer good, offering transparency in pricing and easy refills. Their acquisition of One Medical is another use case they look to improve. As they stated in their press release, they look “to deliver exceptional health care to more people to achieve better health outcomes, better care experiences, and more value, within a better care team environment”. With the understanding that people want to be able to access healthcare services on their own terms, whether that means through telemedicine, mobile clinics, or other non-traditional channels, they seek to create patient-centered offerings that appeal to the increasing demands of an ever-changing consumer base thus breaking the norms of an industry that in many respects still suffers from this-is-the-way-we-have-always-done-it syndrome. Be it faster prescriptions being delivered to your door, or leveraging current physical assets to bring mobile clinics closer to consumers, industry disruption focuses on specific use cases with the most immediate need. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, industry disruptors focus on specific segments of the industry where they can add the biggest value to the consumer.
Rethinking Disruption And Innovation
The challenge for traditional industry players is to approach innovation in a completely new way. This means moving away from traditional, slow-moving process improvement efforts and embracing a more agile, fail-fast approach. This might mean adopting emerging technologies to assess their current viability, piloting new care models, or developing new partnerships that can help accelerate innovation to meet the needs of an evolving consumer base. This requires weaving innovation as part of the culture, empowering all areas of the ecosystem to think through an innovative lens within their respective areas of focus. Leaders need to foster a culture change where constant improvement and process prototyping become the new normal. There are a number of hospital systems that have established innovation hubs, with great success, all while maintaining patient-safety their main focus. They are rightfully seen as trail-blazers in their space, but truly all areas of the industry should have an innovation presence. While there has been an increase of Chief Innovation Officer roles making their way into the industry, role is still severely under-represented, and organization leaders need to push more in this direction.
Partners, Not Rivals
Additionally, providers need to hone into what they are good at, and come to terms with areas where they are not. This means recognizing strengths and weaknesses and developing partnerships in order to bridge gaps in the opportunity areas. By partnering with new industry players who are disrupting areas of the industry, traditional players can create more comprehensive solutions that can address the biggest pain points in the industry. The answer is not for traditional providers to become more like Amazon, Walmart, and others, but rather to proactively participate in multi-channel partnerships that bring the best out of both sides. It means working together in developing innovative solutions that can meet the changing needs of consumers. By collaborating with other players in the ecosystem, traditional providers can stay on the cutting edge of innovation while ensuring they continue to provide the best possible care that keeps the patient at the center of the experience. Hospital systems as we know them today are not going anywhere. There is and will always be a need to have community hospitals throughout our neighborhoods providing essential care. At the same time, the list of industry disruptors continues to grow and studies show that by 2030 they are expected to make up over 30% of the industry. It is imperative that instead of seeing each other as competitors or rivals, traditional industry players, and those seeking to disrupt the industry view each other as partners who can work together to solve the many challenges in the industry.
Better Partnerships = Better Outcomes
Both traditional providers and industry disruptors have a crucial role to play in making healthcare accessible to all. The challenges faced by the industry are great, from provider burnout to shrinking profits and outdated paying models, just to name a few. They all require innovative approaches that look at the industry in a brand-new light and with a completely new perspective. By embracing collaboration and partnerships, we all can better leverage different perspectives, strengths and industry insights to create a more innovative, patient-centered, and equitable healthcare system that meets the needs of patients in a rapidly changing world.
