Accenture consultants Jeff Elton and Anne O’Riordan argue that coming changes in health care should benefit patients and humanity at large. They assert that drug companies and device makers will come to pursue business models that profit from curing people, not from pushing pills. Their enthusiasm is enviable, although their writing style can be turgid. If you’re not already versed in health care, you also may have a hard time with their insider argot. And Trump administration changes in Obamacare could outdate some of their overview. While always politically neutral, getAbstract suggests this thought-provoking study to health professionals, patients and investors.
The Health Care Revolution
Health care is currently experiencing a wave of disruption. For starters, patients are becoming active consumers. The explosion of health care access brings an explosion of cost. Global health spending is likely to soar from $8 trillion in 2015 to $18 trillion in 2030.
In one sign of this disruption, the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors saw mergers totaling $438 billion in 2014. The changing roles of life sciences companies are another symptom. Medical device makers, drug companies and digital technology companies are now collaborating. Silicon Valley is investing in health care innovation. Apple launched an app letting customers share health data with researchers. Google partnered with AbbVie to research diseases of aging.
Health costs soar in part due to the dominance of the “fee-for-service” model in the United States and elsewhere. This model gives medical professionals incentives to provide as many procedures, drugs and devices as possible – and in the most expensive scenarios. Health care providers receive no incentives for prevention. This fuels a defective system that pays professionals to wait until patients are ill...
Jeff Elton, managing director of Accenture Strategy, has founded several health care companies. Anne O’Riordan is global industry senior managing director of Accenture Life Sciences.
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