News & Insights
News & Insights
BOOK: JOE PUBLIC 2030
Predict-O-Meter
Joe Public 2030 makes five bold predictions about the future, which range from exciting and promising to ominous and discouraging. Through the Predict-O-Meter, we’ll continuously assess the state of the healthcare industry to track the accuracy of the five predictions.
Five Potent Predictions Reshaping How Consumers Engage Healthcare
FALL 2023 UPDATE
What influenced our latest rating?
If you want to spur a passionate discussion on LinkedIn, just throw out an opinion on the impact of disruptors like Amazon, Walgreens or Apple on traditional healthcare. Wooo, the sparks do fly! We’re still convinced it’s not a question of if these organizations will disrupt healthcare, but when. And we still see 2030 as a fair marker for real change. Becker’s had a nice rundown of activity at mid-year, but maybe the biggest headline was Amazon’s announcement of their new primary care service for Amazon prime members in November. We still hear from providers who ask “who would choose a primary care doctor from Amazon?” Answer? See horse and buggy drivers circa 1910 – “Who would want to drive one of those automobile contraptions?”
Relevant News
- How retail became healthcare’s biggest disruptor – Modern Healthcare, May 23, 2023
- UnitedHealth Group now employs or is affiliated with 10% of all physicians in the U.S. – STAT, November 29, 2023
- Fuyons and flu-shots? Gas station company ventures into urgent care – KFF Health News, August 16, 2023
- Walgreens makes first healthcare move since CEO’s exit – Axios, September 12, 2023
ORIGINAL PREDICTION
Today we tend to consider hospitals and health systems as birds of the same feather in terms of business model, with variances based on size, scope of services, for-profit/non-profit, and other factors. Moving forward, we could see the splitting of the health system model, with some systems moving even further to the larger, more comprehensive “health” organizations, others retracting into solely acute-care destinations – the “giant ICU on a hill” – and others somewhere in the middle. These models may emerge based on core geographic/market differences such as presence of competitors, plan consolidation/power, regulation, and dozens of other market forces. Yet the primary area where this transformation would play out is with health, wellness and the lower-acuity care points – what we’re calling The Funnel Wars.