San Francisco Business Times Future of Health Care

Last week, we attended the San Francisco Business Times’ annual Future of Health Care breakfast. The theme this year was innovators and disruptors.

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In the $3 trillion healthcare industry, trying to disrupt or even make a dent in the current ways. However, there are significant changes in the healthcare industry that necessitate innovation. These trends include the movement away from medical care happening primarily on site to being in the home or via telehealth. There is an increasing rate of chronic illness, and we need to be assessing ways to treat chronic illness before it leads to emergent situations. Healthcare users need to feel that healthcare is not a burden to their lives, as it is so often seen. We all dread waiting in doctor’s offices, only to be seen way after our appointment time and for only a brief amount of time. Another point that was made, was that in the migration toward value based care, the measure of value is not usually the patient’s measure of value.

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However, despite the need for healthcare innovation, there are many barriers to implementing new ways of doing things. Usually, healthcare organizations are large, slow-moving organizations. It takes a long time for these organizations to make innovation decisions, let alone implement the decisions. Healthcare organizations, at the frustration of the disruptors, don’t move fast enough. It is entirely possible that by the time a healthcare organization implements an “innovative” system, it is time for another round of innovation.

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This event is one that we look forward to every year because of the interesting discussion regarding the healthcare system as a whole.

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