Exponential Business Platforms and Healthcare - Part 2

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Hello again friends and colleagues,

Last week, we introduced the concept of Exponential Business Platforms (EBPs) and their applicability to healthcare[https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/exponential-business-platforms-healthcare-part-1-sam]. We discussed the first five characteristics of EBPs - technological disruption, vertical integration, iterative development, sustainability, and workforce transformation - gaining an understanding of their transformative potential. In today's newsletter, we further explore EBPs, discussing another five characteristics that set them apart.

Direct-to-Consumer Relationships

EBPs masterfully navigate the complex currents of direct-to-consumer relationships. This is a platform's capacity to interface directly with its customers, sidestepping traditional intermediary channels. By building a robust direct-to-consumer model, EBPs have been able to control the narrative around their brand, fostering customer loyalty and gathering rich consumer data to drive decision-making. They can nimbly adapt to consumer needs and personalize their offerings, creating a consumer experience that is not just satisfactory, but delightful.

In the healthcare realm, a direct-to-consumer approach bears the promise of fostering a more consumer-centered healthcare system. The provider-consumer relationship is the cornerstone of care delivery, and fortifying this bond can drive consumer satisfaction and engagement. Digital health tools such as telemedicine and health apps, for instance, can provide a more direct interface between healthcare providers and consumers. Further, harnessing consumer data can help providers customize care plans to suit individual health needs, thereby enhancing the quality of care and outcomes. Some healthcare organizations that are currently building platforms have not traditionally had a great track record of consumer relationships such as insurance companies (United Health/Optum) which presents both an opportunity and a challenge.

Agile and Lean Practices

Agility and lean methodologies underpin the operational excellence that distinguishes EBPs. This approach fosters an organizational culture that values adaptability, continuous improvement, and the elimination of waste. It emphasizes quick decision-making, rapid prototyping, and iterative development, all geared towards achieving maximum operational efficiency and customer value.

The adoption of these methodologies in healthcare can be revolutionary. Agility can equip healthcare organizations with the flexibility to adapt to evolving patient needs and market trends, while lean methodologies can help streamline workflows, reduce waste, and optimize resources. This is particularly beneficial in healthcare delivery, where the stakes are high and efficiency is paramount.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Data forms the bedrock of EBPs. By leveraging advanced analytics and AI, EBPs harness the power of data to inform strategic decisions, predict market trends, optimize operations, and personalize customer experiences. This data-centric approach allows EBPs to stay ahead of the curve and consistently deliver superior value.

Healthcare, with its vast repositories of patient data, presents a ripe opportunity for a data-driven approach. The use of advanced analytics and AI can help healthcare providers glean insights from patient data, enabling predictive healthcare, personalized treatment plans, and early intervention strategies. Furthermore, data-driven insights can inform strategic planning and policy-making, thereby driving healthcare transformation on a systemic level.

Decentralized Care

Decentralization is another characteristic of EBPs. In the business world, it involves the distribution of decision-making authority across different levels of the organization, thereby fostering agility, innovation, and customer responsiveness.

This decentralization, when applied to healthcare, could mean taking care delivery to the patient's doorstep. The traditional model of care delivery, which requires patients to visit healthcare facilities, can be reimagined to include home-based care, retail clinics, and telemedicine. This shift towards localized care can foster community engagement, reduce healthcare disparities, and make healthcare more accessible and convenient for patients.

Investment in Research & Development (R&D)

EBPs prioritize investments in R&D to drive innovation, promote technological advancement, and gain a competitive edge. They leverage Wright's Law, a fundamental principle which states that for every cumulative doubling of units produced, costs will decrease by a constant percentage. This is not an automatic outcome, however, but requires a determined effort to ride The Learning Curve of deliberate improvement. Wright's Law and the Learning Curve provide a significant competitive advantage to EBPs.

In healthcare, investing in R&D can lead to advancements in disease treatment and prevention, innovative healthcare technologies, and new care models. Increased R&D can facilitate translational research, ensuring that scientific advancements quickly transition from the lab to the patient's bedside, improving patient outcomes, and transforming the healthcare experience.

In our next article, we will shift our focus to the specific skills needed to build and lead EBPs.

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See you next week,

Sam