Center for the Edge
Perspective Sep 5, 2024 5 min read Health Ecosystems

We need a new healthcare ecosystem

One-stop shop: Where healthcare meets retail

Norway has long benefited from a highly prioritized healthcare system with reliable access to necessary care. That era will not last unless we change how we think about health and treatment. One part of the answer may be to access certain health services the way we buy groceries and music: conveniently, where people already are.

Healthcare faces a “complexity wave”

We are well aware of an aging population. Less discussed is the complexity wave: more people living with two or more conditions at the same time. A system already under pressure must treat increasingly complex cases with limited resources.

Keeping today’s approach unchanged would imply an unrealistic need for workforce and financing. That makes it more likely that the level of service will be scaled down unless we find new models.

Efficiency alone is unlikely to save us

Can efficiency and new technology get us back on track? A paradox is that efficiency initiatives often deliver diminishing returns in complex environments. Standardized processes work best when reality is predictable. When complexity increases, staff spend more time on exceptions, deviations and reporting, and the standard becomes less aligned with the real world.

As complexity rises, standards collide with practice and working time gets consumed by the exceptions.

Innovation through networks

Many organizations try to become more efficient by reducing partnerships. In fast-changing conditions, the opposite may be needed: networks of large and small actors that innovate and learn together.

We can shift the mental model from medical treatment as the center, to the individual’s health as the center, supported by a growing ecosystem of providers around them.

New actors can help

Combining health and data raises important questions, but people already share data when they experience clear value in return. Spotify is an example of how access to a service can move from physical stores to a phone in your pocket.

Spotify founder Daniel Ek is also a co-founder of NEKO Health, a consumer-oriented service offering rapid analysis of things like moles, heart and arteries, blood sugar and cholesterol through body scanning.

A one-stop shop in a national healthcare model

A survey called “One Stop Shop for Healthcare” suggests that 29% of Norwegian respondents would be willing to purchase certain health services, including basic health checks, through retail stores. That is a meaningful signal to explore how such models could complement a national healthcare system.

Care needs to become less reactive and more proactive and preventive. Technology innovation, especially in digital health and consumer tech, is changing expectations: more personalized care that is available outside traditional institutions.

From exceptions to personalization

Unlike assembly-line production, AI can handle individual cases at scale. Variation does not have to be a problem: it can be a source of improvement. The more context a person is willing to share, the more services can be tailored to them.

Healthcare cannot solve this alone. But rather than being paralyzed by fear, there is a big opportunity: never before have so many people had such a strong interest in investing in their own health and future.

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