Tomorrow's Healthcare Puts Consumers in Control, like Amazon for Shopping

Tomorrow's Healthcare Puts Consumers in Control, like Amazon for Shopping

When Amazon launched 20 years ago it would have been impossible to imagine how profoundly the company would disrupt the retail shopping experience. In 2013, Amazon boasted 237 million active users and Amazon mobile products reached nearly 3 of 4 U.S. smartphone users. Today the expectation is instant gratification for all your shopping needs.

The U.S. healthcare system is on the brink of a similar, Amazonian disruption—the result will be healthcare that is built around you—the consumer—and it promises to be faster, cheaper, more personalized and effective than anything we can access, or possibly even imagine, today.

There is no doubt the consumerization of healthcare has begun. The advance of digital health technologies and wearable sensors, the proliferation of smartphones, the rollout of cheaper diagnostic testing and personal genomics, and political and economic pressures are driving new patient-centric, data-driven approaches to the delivery of health products and services. In the not too distant future, individuals will use robust health platforms, sensors and apps to manage their health and prevent disease as routinely as they keep up with friends, shop online, and pay their bills.

Tomorrow's healthcare will be built around consumer expectations for convenience, choice and value. Here are three ways taking care of ourselves will be dramatically different, and better, than it is today:

1. Price transparency, choice and aligned incentives

Like the Amazon marketplace, healthcare is moving to a more open, transparent model where consumers will be able to shop for their health providers, hospitals and insurance plans in much the way we browse and buy products online today. Doctors and hospitals will be rated and reviewed. Insurance plan pricing will be much more differentiated; it will be quick and easy to compare prices and products online as it is now at Oscar, Stride Health and eHealthinsurance.com.

Transparency and choice will underpin employer-backed health insurance offerings as well. Castlight, for example, is providing enterprise healthcare software that allows employees to make informed choices based on pricing, quality and expected outcomes. High deductible plans, now offered by 44% of employers, will help align incentives, and individuals will receive discounts and options for insurance based on behavior.

Large companies already are making moves to align incentives. Walmart and Target moved their part-time employees to the health exchanges while companies like CVS and NCR are offering premium discounts tied to behavior and biometric data. Marketplace dynamics will lower costs and improve quality and choice.

And, best of all, we'll know who is on our health team and what services and expected outcomes we're getting for our money.

2. All your health data in the cloud and on your phone

Gone will be the days when health data and physician notes are siloed in the records of doctors' offices and labs. Already, quantified selfies are using wireless sensors like Fitbits, Jawbone UPs, and Nike FuelBands to gather and transmit daily nutrition and exercise data to their smartphones to be analyzed and shared.

While this may be a fun-to-use novelty today, in the future sophisticated sensors will measure everything from sleep patterns, to heart rhythms, to blood glucose; this data will be accessible in the cloud for your health team to monitor, diagnose, and make recommendations based on your real-time health information. Consumers will see their health data in full transparency on their mobile devices—the instant your blood work is analyzed, for example, it will show up on your smartphone with recommendations.

This ability to capture, synthesize and share data will allow for personalized healthcare in much the way Amazon's data engine has customized the shopping experience around consumer behavior, preferences and anticipated needs. New insights gleaned from health data will drive efficiency, customization and better outcomes for individuals, providers, and insurers.

3. No more annual check-ups—your health team is in your phone

The days of the once-yearly check-up are numbered. As our health data moves to the cloud, care will become a continuous process that is integrated into our daily lives. There will be no more gaps in care between doctor visits. Getting your blood drawn will be inexpensive and hassle free—a quick trip to Theranos at Walgreens will provide analysis down to the type of LDL particles in your blood, which is predictive for cardiac risk.

Imagine a health dashboard where your biometric, phenotypic and behavioral data is continually gathered and updated in the cloud via wireless sensors. Your health coach (a nurse or other health expert) will work with you on a regular basis to monitor and optimize your health through texts, email, voice and video, whatever you prefer.

Doctors will provide specialized care for diseases and more serious conditions on demand. Eventually, genetic testing will become inexpensive and an essential tool to help us understand our disease risk, disease progression, drug responses and personal health traits.

Healthcare will become proactive and purposeful, allowing us to anticipate and prevent chronic conditions before they develop.

These changes in healthcare are coming faster than most of us might think.

It is inevitable that healthcare, like commerce, will adapt to their expectations for convenience, personalization and 24/7 access. Perhaps the greatest sign that change is on the way is investor interest in the health sector; health tech innovation attracted $2.2 billion in venture investment in the first half of 2014. The future of healthcare is happening right now.

Stephanie Tilenius is Founder and CEO of Vida, a next generation, mobile, continuous care platform and health coach marketplace for consumers and businesses: www.vida.com, @joinvida. Previously, Ms. Tilenius was a founder of PlanetRX, a VP at Google and SVP at Ebay.

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Shahanoor Ahmed

Head of Engineering -Leading Digital Engineering & Transformation teams using MERN,ERP, Cloud, Data & AI Platforms(Analytics & Cognitive Automation Technologies) : Driving Business Excellence from GCC/GIC's

9 年

Nice article, as truly said the consumerization began happening around the world. Again it will be cost effective solution to the people. Appreciate your deep insights.

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Jay Wink

Employee Benefit Strategies for Variable Hour Employers, Voluntary Benefits at Marsh McLennan Agency

10 年

Great article, and I agree that consumerism is coming quickly! I work with employers building benefit strategies around this trend. Our challenges include education and communication of these new options, while there is a significant increase in high deductible plans, satisfaction isn't as high, because many bought on price. Administration: how does an employer get accurate information to the provider timely, so that the participant can use what they purchased? With consumerism, we are transferring risk to the individual. Once people understand, many will want more options to protect their financial and health well being. Consumerism is coming, we have to help people help themselves.

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Lori Ganim

Strategic Compensation and Benefits Director | Focused on keeping people first and providing a solid employee experience

10 年

The potential is exciting! The transformation to transparency is spot on...can't wait!!

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An exiting picture of the future in Healthcare - and also an open door to innovation and entrepreneurship to Kasper Loevborg Jensen, Christopher Pilgrim, Michelle Nielsen, Trine M?ller, Peter Rasmussen, Martin B. Justesen, Astrid H?egh Tyrsted, Birgitte Woge Nielsen, Morten Els?e

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