J&J: Like retail pharmacy, OTC health focused on optimizing care

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Like retail pharmacy, the future of CPG healthcare is transforming into a more value-driven model. Rather than a focus on getting new products to the shelf, necessarily, the OTC business is more and more becomnig about building the most efficient and effective platform that delivers outcomes-improving health information to the end consumer. 

 

And that's exactly what Johnson & Johnson is focused on doing, Sandi Peterson, J&J group worldwide chairman, told analysts Tuesday. 

 

"The consumerization of healthcare, wearables and mobile apps are giving patients unprecedented access to health information," she said. "We are at the tipping point, where technology is becoming the medium through which healthcare can become a more effective and efficient system. The opportunities this creates for Johnson & Johnson to become a healthcare technology innovator are immense."

 

For example, earlier this year, J&J partnered with IBM's new Watson Health Unit to create intelligent coaching systems centered on preoperative and postoperative patient care, including joint replacement and spinal surgery. J&J also targeted the development of new health apps targeting chronic conditions.  

 

"Our broad base across the healthcare spectrum is a competitive advantage when the strategies we create consider, and where appropriate incorporate, insights and innovations from every aspect of our operations to attack disease and improve health outcomes," added Alex Gorsky, J&J chairman and CEO. "The work we are doing with IBM and Apple does this by cutting across the enterprise and leveraging our science, technology and consumer insights to empower patients and caregivers to help speed the post-surgical recovery process."

 

J&J is actively engaging other healthcare partners on developing health techonology, too. "We are working with and talking to nearly every major technology company and many early stage companies," Peterson said. "We are collaborating with retailers like Walgreens and CVS, where care is increasingly delivered, health plans like Aetna and Kaiser Permanente and health systems such as Jefferson Health and Premier to leverage technology digital tools and our health and wellness expertise," she said. "We find that Johnson & Johnson is most often the partner of choice for technology providers. We have the patient and consumer insights, the clinical and behavior modification expertise and the regulatory experience that can combine with technology to transform the continuum of care."