By: Michael Brown, MBA
The conference room was buzzing as professionals bounced around from booth to booth demoing the latest in digital health. At the 11th annual Health2.0 conference sponsored by HIMSS, visions were shared of a better connected, more accessible, and affordable healthcare system.
The era of the house call is back
A key theme this year was to explore health in the home. The era of the house call is back.
Heal is an example of a company taking off in healthcare delivered to the home. For a $99 bill, a physician will pay a visit to treat children, minor urgent care needs, primary care like asthma, allergies, and high blood pressure, and preventive care like depression screenings and STI testing.
This could be very important for those in the depths of depression. They can receive medical attention right from their house, which lowers the barrier to getting help.
Another company successfully managed to connect to a comcast router in front of hundreds of conference goers. This joint venture between Comcast and Independence BlueCross called Quil Health generated a lot of buzz.
A natural fit for healthcare education is to deliver it where attention is the greatest, the TV. By partnering with Comcast, providers can now reach nearly 30 million consumers. If your provider signs up with Quil, they can offer personalized videos and treatment plans for you in the comfort of your own home. Imagine a therapist recording or conferencing with you right in your home. Video and texting solutions are gaining traction. Consumers expect the same interactions in healthcare as they do in banking and retail.
Established Companies are investing in start-ups
Not only are exciting companies creating a better healthcare experience. New collaborations are developing innovative solutions for consumers. I was able to speak about how payers, providers, and pharma companies are partnering and investing in start-ups to improve patient wellbeing.. While big companies investing in their own disrupter may seem counter-intuitive, it is a way for companies to continue to stay relevant. Hospitals need to continue to meet the patient where they want to be seen or other models like Heal will beat them to it. And in a time when the country is focused on reducing healthcare costs, insurance needs to further govern the healthcare dollar, creating value-based contracts on therapies that demonstrate engagement and outcomes, not just availability.