All of us are well aware that healthcare is rapidly changing. We’re entering an era where consumers will truly be at the center of how health is delivered in the United States and other parts of the world.
I’m not the only person who thinks this. Mark Bertolini, Aetna’s CEO, believes a renewed focus on the patient and changes in health technology and financing may put some insurance companies out of business. For payers to thrive in this environment they will need to embrace their new role as facilitators that are less concerned about who gets paid, and more interested in helping people successfully navigate their health and wellness decisions.
While consumers will benefit from the profound changes to come in health, there are also risks. Patients, caregivers and others will be asked to act on information provided via technologies such as genomics, Big Data and social media to make a dent the healthcare universe, i.e., by making better, faster and more effective decisions about their care. Unfortunately, many people are not ready to do this.
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I believe marketers must play a key role in helping consumers understand, embrace and thrive in an environment where they will be asked to assume more of the financial burden for their care and use sophisticated technologies to optimize its delivery. Marketers’ most important task will be to help reduce problems associated with three trends I and my co-author, Rohit Bhargava, discuss in our upcoming book:
Technologists, data scientists, engineers and others will determine the shape of the healthcare future. There’s no reason marketers can’t play a major role, too.