The days of slow and steady evolution in the healthcare and life sciences industry are over and new business models are forming to function in an environment where the focus is on patients and value, according to research by management consulting company Accenture.
The research, published in a new book titled Healthcare Disrupted, explores how global changes in healthcare funding, the aging of societies, scientific breakthroughs, explosions in volumes of health and digital data, and new digital technologies are converging. This will require new definitions of healthcare and how it will be delivered and experienced in the future.
Authors Anne O’Riordan, global senior managing director of Accenture Life Sciences, and Jeff Elton, managing director, Accenture Life Sciences, have examined the forces transforming the healthcare and life sciences industries, from digital disruptors to changing reimbursement models.
“The industry that once measured change in decades is experiencing a disruption that will shift the landscape in just a few years, or even sooner,” said Elton. “Radical changes are already making the industry more dynamic and unsettled than ever before. Executives and leaders at all levels will need to think differently and act as integrators. They will be indispensable to creating product and service packages of value, and interacting directly with patients and health providers, among others.”
Emerging business models are breaking old boundaries, Elton added. “Traditionally, there were three distinct types of healthcare players: health providers delivering treatment and services; health manufacturers – pharmaceutical and medical device companies; and health payers which would typically be insurers and governments. But now, these lines of distinction are blurring as new approaches are deployed to improve both health outcomes and overall value to the health system.”
The authors predict new types of collaborative pairings occurring – medical device and digital technology companies with pharmaceutical firms; risk-bearing providers with life science companies; and payers with digital technology companies. “Payers are moving into the direct provision of care, health providers are now directly assuming and managing risk, technology companies are connecting remote clinical monitoring technologies and advanced analytics together as a service, and medical device companies are providing direct patient care management services,” noted co-author Anne O’Riordan, global senior managing director of Accenture Life Sciences.
Accenture, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Healthcare Disrupted, Anne O’Riordan, Jeff Elton, US
