Innovation in Healthcare
The healthcare industry has been inching towards structural innovation for decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic served as a major catalyst to modernize the hospital system. While this next section focuses on the proliferation of telehealth as an example, there are numerous other avenues that showcase how the healthcare industry changed throughout the course of this pandemic such as the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, connectivity, and preventative healthcare.
The CDC describes telehealth as the “use of two-way telecommunications technologies to provide clinical healthcare through a variety of remote methods.” A technology connecting disparate groups of people has never been more necessary than during a global health crisis targeting congregations of people. Telehealth has seen 154% more people attending virtual doctor’s visits between March of 2019 and 2020, mainly helped by the 41-42% of US adults who reported avoiding seeking care due to fears of contracting COVID-19 at a doctor’s office (CDC). The features benefiting the COVID pandemic, such as expanded access to care, reduced cost of care, reduced exposure to disease, and preservation of personal protective equipment, are likely to continue being opinion drivers after the pandemic. As the technology barriers are removed and people start getting comfortable with new formats, there will be a hesitancy to return to the previous status quo. For reference, the majority of revenue generated goes towards hospital facility overhead maintaining the brick and mortar building and operating expenses- up to 68% in several researched cases.
Entrepreneurs and companies around the world have already started capitalizing on this unmet need and are seeing surging demand accelerated by the pandemic. Some of these companies are providing and dispatching the doctors, nurses, equipment, basic testing functions, and surveillance to patients and their families at a significantly reduced cost. Hospital-at-home services have been reported to reduce readmission by 25% and reduce mortality by 20% in some cases. It has become necessary for innovators and entrepreneurs alike to disrupt the industry as many large hospital groups are still unable to innovate at such a rapid pace.
With a noticeable acceptance and widespread adoption of services, including hospital-at-home services, it is evident that there is an opportunity to shape the healthcare landscape. While there are still challenges for the adoption of new technologies, such as access to broadband or the lack of a permanent home, parallel innovations in areas such as satellite broadband and robotics can address some of these challenges as the industry continues to evolve. An increased demand resulting from events such as the mass closures of rural state hospitals around the country will also force both government entities and the private sector to figure out ways to address the supply gap and come up with new offerings. Through intentional strategic planning and integration of innovative business models, providers will have the opportunity to expand their reach and improve both their capabilities and unit economics. Capitalizing on such opportunities will be up for grabs, but it has to be intentional. Successful partnerships, winning strategies, and prioritization of innovation will boost the right players to the top of the industry.
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