One of the major transformations of healthcare that we are undergoing currently centers around the focus on consumers.
Here’s how the progression has occurred, explained Tom Zajac, CEO of Philips Wellcentive, at the HX360 forum on Tuesday, which is part of the overall HIMSS annual meeting in Orlando.
“Thirty years ago we thought about patients. At some point HMOs and health capitation made us think about members. Really we were talking about consumers then.”
But now for the first time, the industry is talking about the average person as the consumer of healthcare.
And in doing so, it has a choice to make. Will the Blockbuster type of model work where the consumer was key or should we adopt the Netflix model.
Zajac credits Stephen Klasko, the president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, as the person who is talking about the Netflix effect in healthcare.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
“Blockbuster versus Netflix. We are not as interested in going to a physician’s office. We want our care when and where we want to have it,” explained Zajac.
This is the exact reason for Walgreens and CVS being able to encroach into primary care – because they were not thinking of patient workflow but consumer workflow and how they want to be treated, he said.
The patient at the center is also the result of higher deductible insurance plans whereby patients end up shouldering a significant financial burden to pay for their health. Zajac called it the “wallet effect” that’s driving some of the change in healthcare.
And the move to the Netflix model – getting your care when and where you want it – is also forcing the connectivity argument.
“We need connectivity not just from the hospital … in an acute case, [but] I want to know about my connectivity to my physician, to my pharmacist, what I am doing at home and tracking my capabilities – connectivity becomes important to be part of the solution,” Zajac said.
Photo: Yuri_Arcurs, Getty Images
