How Startups are Changing Health Care (and 5 Tips to Help You Integrate)

When we read about the unbridled success of Uber, Airbnb and Task Rabbit, we immediately think startups and we most likely believe that these businesses have no relevance to health care. But their model of doing business—working within the sharing/collaborative economy – is gaining traction in all business sectors; and health care will be no exception.

This business model of the sharing/collaborative economy is predicated on the preferences of consumers to rent, borrow, swap, trade and/or share goods and services rather than buy and own them – all made possible by the community of the internet. This model emphasizes access over ownership, and consumers’ needs are still being met without costly asset investment and acquisition.

[READ MORE] TOP 10: Most Innovative Health Care Startups to Watch in 2015

Wherever you are in the health care continuum, whether you are a health care professional such as a doctor or nurse, a hospital administrator, a marketing agency, or a pharmaceutical or medical device company, applying the principles of the sharing/collaborative economy can offer a more efficient way to maximize your underutilized  assets.

Here are the top 5 things to initiate sharing into your health care organization now:

1. Access is more important than ownership.
Do you really need to own that? Maintaining in-house resources and existing structures when they are not 100 percent utilized or may become outdated is a waste. We can no longer afford to have fixed assets that may or may not meet our business needs at any given time.

“Sharing” can mean initiating systems that offer open/transparent data that makes it easy for staff to share and promote access to goods and services across your business networks.

Imagine a scenario where assets are utilized and paid on a per-use basis, rather than owning them outright. Innovative hospitals have already initiated systems where hospital staff such as doctors and nurses are utilized at different locations, and diagnostics equipment is shared among hospitals. These initiatives enable health systems two significant benefits; to be more judicious in their purchasing by better utilizing the assets they own as well as to have access to more specialized equipment that they cannot justify the cost and ROI if they owned it outright.

2. Share talent.

Utilize talent for what they do best and don’t waste time and money having expensive talent performing jobs less expensive people can do. And at any given time, some talent is over utilized and others underutilized which means that many of our companies are understaffed, or more accurately said, incorrectly staffed.

Search across the network to find the best person to do the right job, at the right time, for the right price.

[READ MORE] 4 Tips to Recruit the Best Hospital Staff

Allowing for access to the right talent at the right time, without the financial burden of fixed salary costs means you save money and provide superior results.

3. Engage Millennials in the way they want – not in the way you are accustomed to.

The Millennial generation is already living by sharing principles. Technology has empowered them to compete against huge corporations, organizations, and the media.  Millennials don’t care about the old way of doing things, and as a result, they are redefining brand experience to when they want or need them.

Take the time to get to know your Millennial staff and learn about small changes you can make in your business today to serve their needs and engender their loyalty

4. Disrupt outdated ways of doing business.

Disruption is not all about destroying. It may be that sharing already exists within your business, so connect the dots. Who is already sharing and determine how others internally can adopt their best practices. Consider sharing champions who can serve as ambassadors to encourage uptake of this business model.

Identify the barriers to sharing. What must be changed in team structure, HR and Legal to drive sharing? Identify the siloes within which your businesses operate and what can be shared.

Consider all possibilities, even if this means rethinking the sacred cow – revenues.

5. Share revenues.

If we do not share profits when we share talent and assets – all this will fail. Develop new revenue streams by sharing or lending resources. Reward your partners for helping you win or grow business. Incentivize your partners to share their best people and assets.  

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