If we look at healthcare in the classic two by two matrix: low/high for complexity of care, low/high for out-of-pocket expenses, there is an amazing large gap for the low complexity/low out-of-pocket expenses.
Retail healthcare, in the form of “low cost” convenient-simple-quality healthcare may have enough consumer value to have a significant place in the spectrum of healthcare delivery. It just needs to add convenience.
However, as healthcare is a relationship business, it will be important that this retail healthcare aims at complementing and never at substituting the status quo. At the end of the day confrontation should not be an option, as it is in everybody’s best interest to allow retail healthcare to enter the marketplace, it will solve so many problems of our present healthcare systems.
For example, does anyone doubt that emergency departments (which by their very nature have to be prepared for the most critical patients) are the least cost effective method of dealing with minor health problems? The market is begging for alternatives.
Convenience, convenience, convenience (three new words for XXIst century healthcare).
Retail healthcare, in the form of “low cost” convenient-simple-quality healthcare may have enough consumer value to have a significant place in the spectrum of healthcare delivery. It just needs to add convenience.
However, as healthcare is a relationship business, it will be important that this retail healthcare aims at complementing and never at substituting the status quo. At the end of the day confrontation should not be an option, as it is in everybody’s best interest to allow retail healthcare to enter the marketplace, it will solve so many problems of our present healthcare systems.
For example, does anyone doubt that emergency departments (which by their very nature have to be prepared for the most critical patients) are the least cost effective method of dealing with minor health problems? The market is begging for alternatives.
Convenience, convenience, convenience (three new words for XXIst century healthcare).
1 comments:
The problem is that most of patients have no information to discern if their conditions need high or low complexity services.
A strong primary care system that worked as "gatekeeper", guiding the patients to the correct place (the simplest needed medical solution but not simpler) could fill that gap.
Unfortunately the stakeholders and people with power (politicians, social elites, mass media) dont appreciate primary care, so they dont support this theory...
The consequence is a weak primary care and the hospital emergency rooms (and outpatient hospital clinics) full of people trying to know if that 2 years slight eczema is live threating or not.
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