Creating a New Healthcare Podcast — The Platform Revolution in Healthcare

“Creating a New Healthcare” by Zeev Neuwirth, MD is an amazing podcast series. “The Platform Revolution in Healthcare” is the topic that  Randy Williams, MD and I were privileged to discuss as guests.

Listen to this episode of Creating a New Healthcare!

Here’s a SUMMARY from Dr. Neuwirth’s show notes:

The topic of this episode is about an emerging healthcare marketplace transformation, which is the introduction of platforms into healthcare.

What surprised me about this movement is how many years it’s been developing. For example, last July I attended the 2022 MIT Platform Strategy Summit. Turns out it was their 10th annual symposium on this topic.

The first day was dedicated to healthcare and entitled, ‘The Platform Revolution Comes to Healthcare’. The opening presentation was entitled, Healthcare Platform Megatrends: Discovering the Power of Network Effects. [Slides and Video are available]

Our two podcast guests delivered that presentation. It was the most lucid and engaging explanation I’ve ever heard on the topic.…

In this interview, we’ll discover:

• A platform does not only refer to a digital technology infrastructure, but is also a function of a novel business model.

• Examples of mega platforms in other industries – some of which have already entered the healthcare market.

• The opportunities platforms provide, as well as the strategic threat, especially if legacy stakeholders ignore them.

• What the ‘network effect’ means, as well as other characteristics that define a platform.

• The underlying market forces that are propelling platforms as a dominant component of healthcare delivery.

Some important takeaways from this interview:

First, platforms will be a foundational component of healthcare delivery in the near future. They already are in many other industries. Think Amazon in retail, Uber in travel, AirBnB in the hotel industry, and Netflix in streaming entertainment.

Second, platforms will revolutionize healthcare delivery, similar to the ways they’ve improved other industries such as banking, retail, travel and communications – making it more convenient, more consumer-oriented, more more accessible, more cost effective, and replete with more choices.

Third, platforms are not a ‘nice to have’, and they’re not a futuristic phenomena. In fact, I first heard about platforms from the CEO of the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Enrico Ferrugia, during a talk he gave at the 2021 HLTH conference. He described the emphasis Mayo was going to place on platforms and some of the strategic advantages.

Listen to this episode of Creating a New Healthcare!