Wednesday, April 11, 2012

I Get To...

How do you move the needle so instead of people saying, 'I have to go to the doctor,' they say, 'I get to go to the doctor'?

Similar to how we take for granted that at any time we have the privilege to drive a car down the street to the grocery store, we take for granted that we have the ability to drive to the nearest ER and get care.  American citizens are accustom to these everyday privileges and as a result use the language, 'I have to go to the grocery store,' instead of 'I get to go to the grocery store.' It is the chore to find time to go versus having the luxury of time to go.


The culture we live in has led to innovate new services such as Simon Delivers (now Coborns Delivers), who deliver groceries next-day to your door.  It changed the experience and conversation around grocery shopping from "I have to go to the grocery store,' to 'I get my groceries delivered to my door.'

The doctor holds the needle, figuratively and literally, impacting whether a patient has a negative or positive experience.  However, the experience extends beyond that doctor engagement from: Identifying problem / preventative measures --- Finding a doc --- Setting an appointment --- Not getting an estimate (lack of cost transparency) --- Getting to appointment --- The waiting room --- The interaction with doc (provider) --- Billing and insurance company.  Rinse, recycle, repeat.

WhiteGlove is a new model where members have care delivered to them at home or work, 365 days a year, 8am to 8pm. As a direct-pay primary care provider, members enjoy a comprehensive health care experience that includes primary/acute care, chronic care, wellness, diagnostics, and prescription medications.
With the complexity comes pain points as there is opportunity to transform the customer experience.  Everyone from the government, to the healthcare companies, to the community hospitals must work collectively and invest and value innovation to begin turning the ship.  Innovation must not only happen in a collaborative fashion across companies, but industries.  It is not one or two innovations that will change the conversation, it will be innovation to the way the healthcare system innovates that will change process and give anytime-anywhere care. Making you say, 'I get to see the doctor now.'