From the July 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Recognizing that financial sustainability requires a digital health strategy, health care organizations are scrambling to execute an array of digital initiatives, from mHealth to data analytics.
But slapping a mobile phone app on top of a company’s core functions, or even hiring a chief digital officer, won’t make a company “digital.” Whether it’s Oscar reinventing the health insurance business, ChenMed changing the care delivery model or Teladoc disrupting telemedicine, what makes “digital health” companies viable is that they bring digital thinking to the very heart of the enterprise. These players don’t need a digital department or a digital officer. Every facet of their work, from operations to HR to customer service, is already digital.
A unicorn with a human touch
Oscar, a New York-based health insurance company startup, pairs complex technology with elegant design to make health care simple, intuitive, and human. Through user experience, customer service, and innovative care options, Oscar attempts to expand the role of the traditional health insurance company to that of a trusted health services provider.
Among its innovations is an intuitive and highly functional website — simply type in symptoms in plain English and receive a list of prospective treatment providers, make free calls to doctors, and realize greater price transparency across procedures and locations. How has the company fared? Sixteen months after going live, Oscar has joined the elite group of startups known as unicorns, or those with billion-dollar valuations.
24-hour care—without the emergency room
Teladoc is a national network of U.S. board-certified physicians and pediatricians that allows people to resolve routine medical issues on demand, 24/7, via phone or online video consultations.
The company offers its customers phone or online video consultations anytime they need care, no matter where they happen to be — home, work, or on the road. Teladoc doctors can diagnose medical problems, recommend treatment, and even prescribe medication if necessary. Teladoc is an affordable alternative to costly urgent care and ER visits, and it minimizes the anxious time people typically spend in transit and in ER waiting rooms.
Heightened service for high-risk patients
ChenMed is devoted to elderly people who may have multiple chronic diseases. The company profits when its patients stay well and their health care costs stay low. To achieve these, ChenMed almost imitates a concierge medicine model, preventing the typical problems chronic disease patients face with a patient-centered emphasis on convenience and ease.
