Depending on whom you ask, the speed of change in the healthcare business is either glacial or ludicrous. Hospital CEOs and other leaders of institutions that employ doctors likely will say they can’t keep up with payer demands and evolving public policy. Physicians likely will add that incorporating new developments in medical technology has proved to be a challenge. The actual pace of change in the healthcare business becomes apparent, however, when you start comparing it to other industries. Think of electric cars, for example. They were a punchline in the early and mid 2000s. Now, with the advent of Tesla, they’re coveted, super-powered luxury items. Or, think of Airbnb. Recall how nobody thought it would catch on, due to safety risks. The company has gone on to disrupt the travel industry. By comparison, the pace of change in the healthcare business looks rather tortoise-like, doesn’t it? This slower pace presents an advantage. Doctors, and other healthcare sector employees, can learn from other businesses to see what the future holds for their line of work. With that in mind, here are 5 business lessons doctors can learn from other industries. Newspaper industry For most of American history, owning a printing press — and consequently a newspaper — was a lucrative venture, so much so that people in the business often referred to it as printing money. Then, the internet came along. In 1999, the New York Times launched NYTimes.com and decided to put their coverage up online for free, thinking people would continue to pay for the paper product. Much of the industry followed suit, leading to the gutting of newsrooms across America, due to declining print revenue. Eventually, the New York Times course corrected and put their online content behind a paywall, mimicking what other publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, had done. The story of American print media underscores the disruptive power of new technology. Perhaps the most disruptive piece of technology for physicians to date has been the EHR. Just as the news industry suffered from unforeseen digital complications, doctors now find themselves with unintended mounting clerical responsibilities. This leaves less time for, you know, being a doctor. Physicians and others in the healthcare business should carefully consider emerging technologies and devices. What seems like an afterthought now — such as telemedicine or AI — could be a major challenge or opportunity in the future, depending on how you respond to it. Mortgage industry Some physicians reading this might still be smarting from the housing market collapse that began around 2006. Subprime mortgages blew a massive hole in the housing market and the greater American economy, marking the beginning of a recession. In many cases, mortgage brokers were giving loans to people who had no chance of actually paying them, leading to a nationwide rash of foreclosures. The solution came in the form of tighter regulation of the banking/mortgage industries, as well as several high-profile government bailouts to keep some big banks solvent. Is history repeating itself for medical students? Student loans are similarly easy to come by. Thankfully, physician compensation continues to increase, keeping the risk of student loan default in check for young doctors. However, the cost of medical school tuition continues to rise. Will physician compensation continue to keep pace? And moreover, will bright students continue to see medicine as a lucrative career option? It’s a troubling trend worth keeping an eye on. The solution to this problem could come in the form of more medical schools giving students free tuition. Time will tell if other schools follow in NYU’s footsteps. For individual physicians who have student loan debt, it might be in your best interest to live like a resident for a few more years and aggressively pay your loans down. Loan forgiveness might also be an option. Tech Many in the mobile phone business scoffed at the iPhone when it debuted in June 2007, just 12 short years ago. It’s camera was weak. The platform didn’t allow for third-party applications. It couldn’t copy and paste. And besides, would the everyday consumer really want a computer in their pocket? It all seems a bit foolish now. The iPhone unlocked a wave of smartphones and mobile technology, both of which proliferate medicine today. It was a device that people didn’t even know they needed, but now can’t live without. People also can’t live without healthcare. But the problem is that by comparison to the tech sector, healthcare is a static industry. Setting aside developments in the pharmaceutical industry, much of the day-to-day work doctors do looks much like it did a few decades ago. Don’t be afraid to add some new devices into the mix to make things a bit more modern. If the tech industry teaches us anything, it’s that a) People don’t know what they need and b) The modern economy rewards innovation. The solution to healthcare’s comparative lack of innovation could be physician-lead. Who better understands what patients actually need than the people who provide patient care? How might physicians themselves create the next big innovation in medicine? Auto industry For decades, the American auto industry was a world leader in quality and efficiency. Then, things started to change in the 1960s. Affordable, smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, such as the Volkswagen Beetle, began to gain popularity. This trend continued throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, with Americans increasingly turning to Japanese brands, such as Honda, Toyota, and Subaru for reliable, fuel-efficient rides. American auto sales declined. Factories closed. American auto workers lost jobs. The American auto industry eventually experienced a resurgence by innovating. The industry started churning out powerful but fuel-efficient American style cars, and a fleet of stylish, powerful, and sturdy trucks and SUVS. The industry had learned an important lesson: If you don’t give people what they want, they’ll go elsewhere to get it. It’s no secret that American healthcare is expensive. Sticker shock has driven many U.S. healthcare consumers to seek treatment or surgical procedures overseas. The implications for physicians and payers are clear: the costs of healthcare in America must be contained. Unfortunately, physicians find themselves at the bottom of the totem pole, bearing the downward cost pressure of their employers, payers, and regulators. The buck stops with today’s doctors. Perhaps the solution is for more doctors to involve themselves in policy-making, or to (shudders … gulps) work for the payers. What a novel idea: Having the people who actually understand healthcare control it. Retail Since the retail industry became an entity, the emphasis has always been on the stuff that retailers sell. This is still true today. No products to sell, no profit. Retail was a game of inventory. Too much inventory, and you have products taking up shelf space that could be used for more in-demand goods. Too little inventory, and you’re not keeping pace with demand. Amazon changed the game by knowing as much as possible about its customers and consequently, perfecting the inventory and shipping equation. With all of its customer data, Amazon can predict what a customer is likely to buy after purchasing a particular item and show it to the customer. The company essentially knows what you want/need before you do. What if doctors could do the same? By comparison, the healthcare industry doesn’t know as much about its consumers. But healthcare could follow Amazon’s big-data example. Imagine massive databases containing billions of patient data points that could help you identify the most likely diagnoses and best treatment options. Physicians could have a much higher-level understanding of population health in their communities, knowing disease activity. AI could potentially crunch all of these data points and use predictive algorithms to spot trends before they’re apparent to the human brain. It sounds like science fiction, but that day might not be all that far off. TL;DR Here’s what doctors can learn from these other industries: Newspapers: Pay attention to technological innovations. Ignoring them could prove costly. Mortgages: What happens when the price of medical school outpaces a student’s ability to pay back the loans? Young physicians would also do well to aggressively service their debt. Tech: Our economy rewards those who disrupt. How might doctors create the next innovation that patients don’t know they need? Autos: If people can’t get affordable, quality treatment here, they’ll go overseas to get it. Just like Americans turned to foreign-made automobiles. Retail: Just as data revolutionized retail, it has the power to revolutionize healthcare. Source
