As we reflect on 2018, it’s impossible to ignore the mega-mergers and vertical integration that happened across the healthcare industry. Whether it’s a new marquee venture like Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, JP Morgan or a complete acquisition like the CVS/Aetna deal, these partnerships are disrupting the traditional healthcare delivery model. Designed to offer patients more affordable and accessible care, these models are shifting patients away from the hospital and to ambulatory settings, retail or urgent care facilities, or virtual care platforms.
At this point, we’ve seen hospitals take steps towards making their clinical delivery system more patient-centric [expanding into the ambulatory setting, opening retail clinics, developing a telehealth program, etc.]. However, moving into 2019, we predict that there will be even more cross-industry integration and even greater disruption – and as a result, hospitals will be forced to react more drastically. We’re curious…what kind of strategies do you think hospitals should or could explore to compete against these new healthcare ventures?
