The Edge - Volume One

A one-size-fits-all consumer strategy is unlikely to meet the diverse needs of most existing healthcare providers’ patients.

WHY IS IT HAPPENING? Technological innovation and our on-demand culture have converged with healthcare consumerism. Higher deductibles and copayments, greater transparency in provider performance and costs, and the narrowing of healthcare insurers’ networks and provider- led health plans are beginning to create the framework to allow patients to become more involved in healthcare decision making than ever before. The convergence of these forces with traditional care models that are organized around the physician – or the hospital and the costly services it offers – is leading consumers to seek alternatives to traditional options. Because several economic forces to strengthen the tide of

HOW IS THE INDUSTRY RESPONDING?

they are vested financially, consumers are seeking new channels for getting many kinds of care. This is especially true of millennials, who are more open to new technologies and far less enamored with traditional models. insurance plans typically cover the greatest share of coverage, U.S. consumers and their families are emerging as the fastest growing payer segment in the industry, according to NRC Health, one of the nation’s largest healthcare performance organizations. Traditional industry players (physicians, hospitals, insurers, drug and medical device purveyors, etc.) and new entrants are taking notice. While employer- and government-sponsored

Industry incumbents and new disruptors are now vying to get and keep control of the consumer. These organizations believe enterprise-level strategies to own access, patient experience and pricing can unlock tremendous value for their constituents. For example, numerous hospital systems are partnering with or acquiring urgent care networks; traditional and new-entrant retailers are eyeing healthcare ventures; private equity firms are backing specialty physician groups; and major pharmacies are buying health insurance companies.

The ability to access healthcare assessments, advice and even face-to-face appointments, similarly to how we access a range of social networks, are likely to become the norm and not the exception.

20 THE EDGE