The American Healthcare System Is Broken
Let’s first agree on that. Search Google and you will find plenty of experts who state that the answer to the health care dilemma lies in a shift towards a more retail type model. You will find just as many experts that prescribe a consumer-centric approach as the answer to our health system dilemmas. Few are talking about both of these in a synchronous manner.
As I mentioned in a previous POST, retail and consumerism are not the same thing. I want to speak more in-depth about both of these and then show how they must work in harmony to produce the desired effect. Even though the consumerism part should really come first, for arguments sake, let’s start with retail health.
My favorite definition of retail health comes from whitepaper, by Booz entitled Health Care’s Retail Solution published in 2008.
“Retail health is where consumers find quality care in a variety of convenient forms and at competitive prices … Consumers are able to plan for the health care needs they anticipate and make informed decisions based on readily available information… They can then “shop” competitively for products and services using a variety of channels, formats, and business models … And for those that need help, they can turn to “navigators” who work with them to design the most suitable health care solutions for themselves and their families.”
Based on this definition, in my opinion, the retail health model should be those people, processes, and technology that help educate, navigate, plan, motivate and choose from suitable solutions for health care needs, anticipated and otherwise.
Much of health care today is delivered as fixed products available and marketed in a non-personalized, one-size-fits-all manner. This model, designed to gain operational efficiencies, in many ways has proven to be inefficient and costly.
Retail health, on the other hand, requires a clear value at the right price. Consumers vote with their “watches” and their “wallets.” If they are not willing to give you their time, you have not demonstrated to them your value. If they are not willing to give you their money, you do not have the right price for the value they understand.
Retail is going to be a big part of saving health care in America. We are a consumer driven society. When consumers make the choice, they are in charge. And to compete for their business, insurers, doctors, hospitals and vendors of health related goods and services will need to:
- Personalize their products and messaging for each individual,
- Drive down their costs and price points, and
- Drive up their quality and feature set.
Retail is going to be a big part of saving health care in America. We are a consumer driven society. When consumers make the choice, they are in charge. And to compete for their business, insurers, doctors, hospitals and vendors of health related goods and services will need to:
- Personalize their products and messaging for each individual,
- Drive down their costs and price points, and
- Drive up their quality and feature set.
Final Words
My philosophy on health care (which I plan on writing about soon) is that consumers are increasingly confused about our their own health and desperately need help making sense of it all. Moreover, the market (our current American health care system) has made it too difficult a task to weed through the unlimited amount of information available and then effectively apply it in context to a current problem (or health-related job-to-be-done). Moreover, of this seemingly unlimited amount of information some is credible and some is not.
Ultimately, the winners in the retail health game will not focus on helping consumers navigate through the maze of options available, but instead focus on removing the maze altogether. As the maze is different for every individual, winners also must know who their customers are ahead of time. More on this topic for another day.
To your health,
The Team at imagine.GO
