If you’re in an industry where everyone is looking to disrupt, chances are that you’ve heard of “Uberization.” We have watched how the “Uberization” of the transportation industry has unfolded and now we have a new question to ask. Which industry is next for disruption?
Some say it will be the finance industry, like Zacharay Karabell who published, “The Uberization of Money.” Basically, if Uber connects people with a driver and leaves the dispather out of the picture, then the financial industry will connect people seeking loans directly to the people who can loan them money.
And what are my thoughts? That it has already happened in the health care industry. It started with connectivity.
If you go to receive physical therapy, or get scripts from drug stores, there’s a good chance that your primary care physician is not directly connected with all of these different entities. This has been a problem for quite some time and I really think that it is more of a cultural problem than a technical problem. Health care lacks an infrastructure that can support the sharing of information among physicians. Unless there is a business incentive to bring patients and physicians together, it will never happen.
When you obtain the connectivity, the physician will be able to see their patient’s entire health journey – when they buy drugs, when they go to a therapist, when they go to the hospital, etc. It will give people the details to make better decisions by fully seeing and understanding what is going on. There must be a free flow of information that is supported by consumer and clinical analytics.
It must have an easy-to-use interface, similar to an Android or iOS application. It must also display relevant, personalized information to all parties – caregivers, physicians, therapists, etc. Think about someone taking responsibility for a loved one’s care. They need connectivity to have a holistic view on the situation. I can also see an increase of access points like telemedicine to local retail health clinics. This will ultimately drive down health care costs, enable better decisions, reduce administrative costs and simplify the patient experience.
When you have providers in value-based models, they are responsible for the entire health of the patient, not just transactional services. The health care industry needs to evolve from a fragmented system to an interconnected system that enables connectivity between the physician and the patient. This will only lead to stronger relationships among physicians and consumers.
Advisor Abbate 