Don’t Expect Big Tech to “Disrupt” Healthcare Just Yet
I recently had the pleasure of attending a digital health technology seminar during which, among other revelations, I realized there are serious challenges to the implementing (and disrupting) healthcare with technology.
Let’s be clear here — when I say digital health technology (DHT), I mean literally anything — from health apps on your phone or smartwatch to microchips embedded inside pills. Digital health tech is a sleeping giant with massive potential, but the disruption many are waiting for may come in the way of a slow stream as opposed to a massive wave.
Healthcare data is special.
Why do you have to sign so many forms at the doctor’s visit, at the hospital, at your pharmacy? All of these are related to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Healthcare data is highly regulated, and for the last 20 years our health institutions have had to create procedures to comply with the protection of your health information. This is the first major difference between Big Tech and healthcare —government oversight on the type of data generated.
Big Tech companies face an immediate challenge in adapting their platforms — from the way the data is collected, stored, and processed, to the way it is distributed to the patient — before they can entertain true entry into the healthcare market. The types of apps and devices that have revolutionized our lives will now bear the burden of delivering high-quality and reliable healthcare services.
The average person also generally has a very different perception of healthcare related data. People may generally be more apprehensive to relinquish privacy for increased convenience regarding the healthcare personal data. If you hear a story of Facebook collection data on your shopping history, eh — you may not really care that people know you’re shopping for a new winter coat. The feeling may be different, if Facebook now knows that you’re having fertility problems or you’re being tested for cancer.
Blood Pressure isn’t measured in “clicks”.
The brilliant minds of Facebook and Google have revolutionized type of conversations we have and the way we have them. But how is success measured? Ad clicks? Shares? Views? The mindset that exposure and penetration is the model for success and expansion may find some challenge, when real-world health outcomes come into play.
So the second major difference is this: measuring health outcomes can be substantially different than the metrics used to determine success in most tech companies. This becomes of particular importance when we think about the fact that the stakes can, literally, be life or death.
You can’t measure improvement in blood pressure or glucose control by assessing clicks or likes, and that mindset may hamper some of the inertia Silicon Valley has directed towards the healthcare industry.
What if the success (and subsequent payment) of a Facebook ad depended on — not how many clicks it got, not even how many purchases the clicks led to, but instead, how that purchase met the goal of the purchaser. For example, you’re looking for a chainsaw to cut down a tree in your back yard. You search the web for a cheap option and suddenly get Facebook ads about it. Now, imagine if Facebook can only measure success if you click on an ad, buy a chainsaw, and actually manage to cut down the tree.
Seem far fetched? There are many such emerging relationships in healthcare, especially in pharmaceuticals. Payment is being tied to performance and quality more than ever before.
It’s not the Wild West.
Healthcare is not some wide-open expanse where anything goes and the market decides who wins and who loses. Actually, it’s quite the opposite — it’s a highly regulated field. Practitioners are regulated in their required training and ability to practice, insurers are regulated in the way they charge and delivery of services, and institutions undergo rigorous inspections and are scrutinized based on health outcomes.
Using the Uber and taxi cab example, Uber disrupted transportation by providing a service that customers preferred. With healthcare, it’s not as simple as setting up a “doctor-on-the-go” citizen-run health clinic and being done with it. The FDA has been busy issuing guidance regarding all things digital health — from definitions and scope of applications to standardization. Its unlikely to see rogue start-ups trying to penetrate the healthcare market having any success while operating outside our regulatory framework.
In my opinion, when it’s all said and done tech companies are likely to play a supporting role — either directly, or indirectly in the form of a supply talented software developers and the like. There is ample room for growth and innovation in the realm of tech-oriented healthcare innovations such as novel apps and devices, but they’re likely to come from within the current healthcare establishment.
Physicians and provider teams fully integrated via cloud based information sharing for coordination of care across our fragmented healthcare system. Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers using apps to ensure the best use of their products. Insurance companies using apps to improve patient outcomes, compliance and satisfaction. Real-time monitoring techniques of long-term diseases revolutionizing treatment options and streamlining therapy.
The future is bright for healthcare innovation. With current trends focusing on increased quality of care and control of costs, digital health could pave the way forward in meeting both goals. The disruptions we’ve been accustomed to however, may not come from Silicon Valley and Big Tech but instead from within the major stakeholders in healthcare right now.
Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts — agree? disagree? Comment below.
Best,
Joel R.
