Platform adoption in healthcare is hard to sell as the industry remains fragmented, complex and highly regulated, but trends such as investment, the threat of competition and the potential to save lives is pushing the industry forward, according to an Aug. 3 MIT article.
Four trends accelerating healthcare platform adoption:
- Healthcare movements: The push for value-based care, the movement toward consumerism, the federal mandate for interoperability and the expansion of virtual and home-based care models is pushing healthcare organizations to adopt platform technology. As health systems or insurers adopt a platform model to support a value-based care model, the same platform capabilities will also benefit the health system's ability to drive consumerism, interoperability and virtual care, according to the article.
- An increase in digital health investments: Microsoft's nearly $20 billion acquisition of AI tech company Nuance and Oracle's $28 billion acquisition of EHR company Cerner shows early signs that big tech companies are going to continue their investments in digital assets for healthcare.
- Emerging data models: New data models such as Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources will prompt healthcare organizations to think about how these platforms will become useful in obtaining and integrating data from external sources.
- A competitive market: As virtual, in-home and in-person gain popularity, patients will be able to make the decision on where or who they choose to receive care from causing traditional brick-and-mortar health systems to see their business model under siege, according to the article. This may cause the health systems to start transitioning to the platform model in order to be competitive.