Ian Morrison is a healthcare "futurist" who was the keynote speaker yesterday at the GHX Supply Chain Summit in Phoenix. He discussed some of his ideas for the "Innovation Imperative". In his opinion, healthcare really needs to transform itself in order to survive. He pointed out the many ways that various health systems across the country are attempting to address the issue. I thought these three slides were interesting.
The first bullet point discussed the "trajectory of silicon". As computing power continues to develop at the exponential rate predicted by Moore's Law, it becomes possible to harness increasing amounts of data to apply towards many new solutions that could not have existed before. Many potential innovations yet to be developed will require us to come up with novel ways to apply the power of data.
I found the "Scout Badge" problem to be an elegant way to describe some innovation efforts. It's a proxy for labels that allow you to say "me too" without any truly meaningful, lasting results behind the programs represented on the page.
Mr. Morrison went on to discuss the problem of a disproportionate share of spending going towards the sickest patients. These efforts are often aimed at patients in their last days with no real impact on their lifespan or quality of life.
Earlier, he had referenced a program by Wal-Mart which will send associates in need of specific surgeries to designated centers of excellence around the country. Special teams dedicated to these efforts examine the patients and perform the procedures. In an article by Atul Gawande in the New Yorker, Morrison cited the fact that 30-50% of the time, the patient is sent home without having the surgery. It's possible that there could be much more reduction over time with careful application of these types of principles.
He also gave two innovative examples of addressing major issues. Emergency rooms are often plagued by repeat visitors who are treated over and over again at high cost. In one example (the truck), the hospital was able to have an agent drive out to visit the families of the worst offenders and explain the treatment and the necessary measures to manage the patient's condition. It dramatically reduced the readmission rate. In the refrigerator, there was an elderly diabetic patient who was not taking her medication and came back again and again to the ER for treatment. At one point, they confronted the patient and asked why she wasn't taking her medications. She told them that the shots had to be refrigerated and she didn't have one. They bought one for her and she did not return due to diabetic complications!
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