New Frost & Sullivan report identifies 6 themes for new healthcare economy

SYDNEY — A growing number of evolving health needs means the proliferation of many models, but according to a new Frost & Sullivan report, there are six big themes that will drive new business models in health care. Those themes include scalability, decision support, process change, customization, integration and services to enhance product delivery.

 

“As patients become increasingly involved in their individual healthcare, as clinical practice moves from intuition based decisions to more analytics and data based approaches, as costs of care to government and private payors spiral upward, healthcare providers and companies are compelled to revamp strategies and rethink new methods and models for payment of healthcare services and products,” Rhenu Bhuller, SVP healthcare at Frost & Sullivan, said. “Moving away from historically operating in distinct silos, the healthcare industry is being driven to integrate; with companies seeking new types of partnerships and collaborations, as well as dealing with a rising breed of new competitors brought in by the institution of IT based tools and services.”

 

Healthcare trends necessitating business model innovation include an industry-wide shift in focus from acute care to prevention and wellness, a growing emphasis on predictive, preventive and personalized health and healthcare delivery, a systematic shift in the point-of-care delivery (with provider organisations beginning to take a back-seat), as well as the increasing influence and importance of data and the emergence of data-oriented products and services in healthcare.

 

The business model transformations impacting the healthcare industry are the perceivable shift in target customer from payers and providers to patients and consumers, the emergence of business-to-consumer models, (although business-to-business models continue to have a stronghold on the industry), B2B models shifting from a product-oriented value proposition to a service-oriented one, and the growing influence of eCommerce, mobile Commerce and social media in healthcare.

 

Customers are demanding optimization of outcomes and costs, and expectations are altering dramatically as decentralization and virtualization of delivery of care is able to facilitate customized care to best suit the individual and their family and enable anytime and anywhere access, with information transmitted and shared in real time between individuals and caregivers. The use of IT and sensor-based tools to provide guidance and support will help avoid errors resulting from misdiagnosis of issue, procedural errors, and errors in medication administration. The most innovative companies in healthcare are those looking to improve quality of treatment while simultaneously collapsing extraneous tasks and costs tied to legacy processes.

 

Customer-to-customer will be the next stage of business model evolution in healthcare and companies will need a robust data-strategy that can inform all aspects of its business. A customization-oriented business model can be a key differentiator in healthcare and healthcare companies should be prepared for an overhaul of their current sales ecosystem. The healthcare value proposition must move beyond products and services to social benefits that enable people and companies to create better societies.

 

"The value proposition business model is a key factor," Bhuller said, citing the example of Novo Nordisk's model of working alongside partners in primary and secondary care, providing support and advocacy, collaborating with community champions and driving awareness about diabetes. "It is about pooling resources, joining forces, and working as a team with different stakeholders in the community. This encompasses a 'product as a service model', and Novo Nordisk is a forerunner with this approach. The catalyst for significant differentiation are companies that create personal, customized options for their customers and who cooperate with partners to increase the spectrum of the 'customer to customer model of healthcare' as well as incorporate a socially beneficial aspect into the business that helps payors and consumers improve their lives and the lives of others."

 

 

"Another value-for-many example is Alive Technologies's Álivecor Mobile ECG app and attachment which uses technology to digitise and democratise, giving users portability and more control of regular monitoring of their heart conditions with ECG reports automatically updated and available for remote doctor review as well as the option for reports to be uploaded to EHRs through the app, potentially reducing doctor visits," Bhuller said.

 

As with any change, there are challenges and threats and the key ones Frost & Sullivan identified for market participants are: