Can COVID-19 bend the curve of healthcare inflation cost as we are forced to innovate?
The answer is yes, but with a big “if”.
As markets from the US to UK and Hong Kong continue to grapple with curbing the spread or resurgence of COVID-19, we are reminded that this will be a long-drawn battle. There are many lessons to be learnt, but one thing that has been clear is that innovation and technology will play a central role in our new way of life. Companies across the spectrum – from F&Bs and retailers – must be nimble to adapt to this new reality or risk decline or worse, failure.
For the healthcare sector, COVID-19 has similarly accelerated a “healthcare consumer” trend. Patients now expect a seamless continuum of care from home to brick-and-mortar facilities, and value for their money. This is fair. After all, it is rare for any industry to expect customers to pay for a service without clarity on price or outcomes.
To meet these evolving needs, we need to embrace innovation. While costly at the start, innovation will pay itself off handsomely over a longer run. One example is in genomic sequencing. In just a decade, the unit cost has come down from a prohibitive US$10 million to about US$1,000 today.
This is the power of innovation at scale – of what can be achieved with collective will towards a worthy goal. And because the healthcare sector was able to bend the cost curve significantly, many patients today benefit from tailored and therefore more effective treatment, fostering greater trust between the practitioner and the patient.
With our international scale and wide network of healthcare facilities, IHH Healthcare is taking leadership in this domain of innovation. But we are also awake to the fact that no one person or organisation can achieve step change alone.
This is why we partner and invest into disruptive companies in the fields of predictive AI and medtech, even as we roll out telemedicine in our key markets and use AI to provide more accurate financial modelling for patients in Singapore.
The more we disrupt ourselves as an industry, the more patients stand to gain. As they do, they trust us more and their trust is what will underpin our long-term sustainability as a business.
Granted, technology alone is no substitute for professional expertise and quality care. But it is a tool we can use to create new possibilities, unveil a new reality and transform care for our patients. The question is whether the collective public and private healthcare sector have the will to believe in the same.
Director (Clinical Services) | Family Medicine Consultant | Nanyang EMBA
3yIn my opinion, innovation comes in many forms. As a business owner, technological innovations can automate processes and improve productivity. He is less likely to behave like entrepreneurs who seek innovations to disrupt a certain industry. What will be most useful for businesses, is how innovation can provide an edge in your business model (compared to others). For example in medical business, telemedicine elements can smoothen the experience for the patient but at a tremendous cost to the company who will eventually have to pass the cost to the patient. Furthermore, patients require individualised solutions and the need for customisation can be a never-ending quest. By providing a premium service, one can charge a premium price - the long term running costs will eventually reduce (and profits increase) as overheads/fixed costs amortises. One risk to take note is imitation by others can negate efforts to innovate, even if there is first-mover advantage. #garykang
C-Suite Executive | Board Director | Digital Transformation | Portfolio Management | Strategic Growth | Value Creation
3yVery well said Dr.Kelvin...another major improvement has to come from payer side simultaneously in encouraging g VBHC...this would make very good bond between payer and provider to bring down to healthcare cost curve....
Healthcare Business leader | PhD ( Hospital Administration) | MBA (IIMC) | Digi Mktg from Columbia biz school | Member - Core Committee of GI Council
3yBut in India agility and adaptive to technology will be challenge , but hospitals are changing their attitude and moving towards digitisation albeit slowly
AI Medicial Innovator
3yCan innovation out of necessity due to covid 19 bend the cost curve?