Nicholas Webb is a health care futurist, author and CEO of Lassen Scientific. He will be speaking in a keynote session at the AHA Health Care Summit about the complexity of health care innovation. The following is a preview of his talk.
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Most health care executives assume their future lies in the architecture of the next iteration of health care as it comes from Capitol Hill. The truth is, the big shifts that will affect health care have a lot more to do with the epidemiology of chronic disease, enabling technologies and the empowered patient.
There are four future shifts that will affect the entire health care ecosystem in a big way and determine the success or failure of most hospitals and clinics. These shifts include :
- disruptive innovation.
- hyperconsumerization.
- connection architecture.
- new economic models.
In the not-too-distant past, hospitals enjoyed the ability to be internally focused on processes, risk mitigation, compliance, key performance indicators and a wide range of other activities. Needless to say, these are incredibly important, and required, functions.
However, in a time of disruption, the managerial landscape changes. Disruptive innovators are looking to displace traditional clinical models, and hospitals and clinics need to develop robust disruptive innovation strategies.
Some studies suggest that clinical visits will be reduced by as much as 50 percent in the next few years. And some specialties within health care, literally, are being replaced by smartphone apps. Emerging digital disruptors are displacing traditional clinical models with new technologies that improve both clinical outcomes and the patient experience. In addition to developing well-defined innovation strategies, hospitals and clinics need to go beyond the old-fashioned concepts of patient experience design. Remember, Uber didn’t reinvent the taxicab, rather it reinvented the transportation experience.
Disruptive innovators are using the same playbook that leverages digital ubiquity, influence marketing, emerging technologies and a wide range of other best practices to completely change the health care landscape. To build a future-proof hospital and clinic, leaders need to build out well-defined future-casting activities that are folded into their enterprise strategy to ensure that they’re not blindsided like so many other sectors.
The good news is that never before has there been a greater opportunity to deliver high-quality patient care at a lower cost than today by leveraging enabling technologies and best practices. The only question is: Are we willing to take a fresh, new look at our organization and enterprise strategies? The best hospitals and clinics know that this is required to build out the necessary disruptive innovations and true patient experience strategies that will earn them a place in the future.
