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Perspectives
A unique forum on Physician eCommerce
If Doctors Sold Books W.D.Wright
I'm still not sure why I was asked to participate in this particular blog. I know that it is labeled as an editorial page, but after all, a blog is simply the editorial pages of the masses. It probably dates back to a heated discussion that took place at a picnic last July. I may have made the comment that physicians, in general, were the poorest adapters of eCommerce. Given that a third of the group I was in were physicians, there was more than ample disagreement with my premise.
Ecommerce, bCommerce, iCommerce, whatever you call Internet-based exchanges of cash for goods and services, it is undeniable that this phenomena has drastically reduced the cost of everything from books to airline tickets to office supplies. It is the simple application of technology allowing the labor to be moved from the supplier to the buyer (self service). That shift alone, without considering any of the other benefits of Internet commerce, creates a profitable business model where the Internet merchant can provide goods and services at the lowest possible price, can you say Discount Brokerage.
So what is wrong with the doctors? If they would simply give up on making diagnosis and sell books then they could follow a well documented path to make money. “People presenting symptoms like yours also purchased .... “.
The reality is that there is no path. There is no path because most doctors rely on insurance reimbursement for which no eCommerce model exists. There is no path because the millions of people who are struggling to pay health insurance premiums (or are being underpaid as their employer struggles) are not offered self service health care. With all due respect to Web MD. There is no path because health care rationing is not something that is talked about at cocktail parties. In fact, rationing will soon replace social security reform as the thing your favorite politician will not touch under any circumstance.
In the coming months, my hope is to use this pulpit as a sounding board to call out those who stand in the way of true medical eCommerce. Like any other blog, this will definitely not change the world. But with a bit of luck, it will give all of you something to think about.
I'm still not sure why I was asked to participate in this particular blog. I know that it is labeled as an editorial page, but after all, a blog is simply the editorial pages of the masses. It probably dates back to a heated discussion that took place at a picnic last July. I may have made the comment that physicians, in general, were the poorest adapters of eCommerce. Given that a third of the group I was in were physicians, there was more than ample disagreement with my premise.
Ecommerce, bCommerce, iCommerce, whatever you call Internet-based exchanges of cash for goods and services, it is undeniable that this phenomena has drastically reduced the cost of everything from books to airline tickets to office supplies. It is the simple application of technology allowing the labor to be moved from the supplier to the buyer (self service). That shift alone, without considering any of the other benefits of Internet commerce, creates a profitable business model where the Internet merchant can provide goods and services at the lowest possible price, can you say Discount Brokerage.
So what is wrong with the doctors? If they would simply give up on making diagnosis and sell books then they could follow a well documented path to make money. “People presenting symptoms like yours also purchased .... “.
The reality is that there is no path. There is no path because most doctors rely on insurance reimbursement for which no eCommerce model exists. There is no path because the millions of people who are struggling to pay health insurance premiums (or are being underpaid as their employer struggles) are not offered self service health care. With all due respect to Web MD. There is no path because health care rationing is not something that is talked about at cocktail parties. In fact, rationing will soon replace social security reform as the thing your favorite politician will not touch under any circumstance.
In the coming months, my hope is to use this pulpit as a sounding board to call out those who stand in the way of true medical eCommerce. Like any other blog, this will definitely not change the world. But with a bit of luck, it will give all of you something to think about.
| · | Physician Self Service Feb. 2007 John Alders |
| · | If Doctors Would Just Sell Books Jan. 2007 W.D. Wright |
| · | Forward Thinking Physicians Jan. 2007 John Alders |
Table of Contents
Not quite an article, not really a blog, docWebTRC is pleased to present Perspectives. Each month, a new point of view on something current in the world of medical eCommerce. docWebTRC's operations manager, John Alders and Professor W.D.Wright will make bi-monthly contributions. We also welcome your views and perspectives. Please visit the contributors section for info on how to submit an article.
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Forward Thinkers John Alders
First, can I just introduce myself. I am the Operations Manager for docWebTRC. This means that I do pretty much everything from monitoring this site, managing our production of physician websites and just about any other job that needs doing. Every other month, I'm going to be sharing this space with a good friend of mine, W.D.Wright. I'm sharing this space, not only because I think Bill is one of the smartest minds in eCommerce, but to offer the reader genuine diversity in perspective. This space is also open to the public. Visit the contributors page and we'll be more than happy to consider your views for inclusion on these pages.
When Dr. Korbey and I first decided to make docWebTRC a reality, I tried to find a marketing phrase that would capture what we're about. I said, “docWebTRC builds medical eCommerce sites and software for forward thinking physicians”. Now after many months of preparing for our site launch, it is obvious that marketing phrase would not do at all.
If docWebTRC is to succeed in our mission, we will be the people that bring eCommerce innovation into many medical practices. I am sure we can do this and our challenge is to do this better and cheaper than everyone else who will soon jump on this bandwagon. But in being an innovator or even being the messenger for the innovators requires a substantially different mindset. Innovators need to see long term and they need to see where the puck is going to be.
And that's when I realized that our website products should not be focused exclusively on forward thinking physicians. With the continued political and economic pressures being brought to bear on medical practitioners and the challenges associated with running their own business, most of you are already working 70, 80, 100 or more hours each week. When are you expected to have the luxury of time to think about innovation?
And so with that one little epiphany, I forever have purged the concept that my new little company is for forward thinking physicians. Rather it is to bring the Internet technologies to all physicians and hope that through technology, all of you can have a more profitable practice and more free time to practice your golf game.
Until Next Time..
First, can I just introduce myself. I am the Operations Manager for docWebTRC. This means that I do pretty much everything from monitoring this site, managing our production of physician websites and just about any other job that needs doing. Every other month, I'm going to be sharing this space with a good friend of mine, W.D.Wright. I'm sharing this space, not only because I think Bill is one of the smartest minds in eCommerce, but to offer the reader genuine diversity in perspective. This space is also open to the public. Visit the contributors page and we'll be more than happy to consider your views for inclusion on these pages.
When Dr. Korbey and I first decided to make docWebTRC a reality, I tried to find a marketing phrase that would capture what we're about. I said, “docWebTRC builds medical eCommerce sites and software for forward thinking physicians”. Now after many months of preparing for our site launch, it is obvious that marketing phrase would not do at all.
If docWebTRC is to succeed in our mission, we will be the people that bring eCommerce innovation into many medical practices. I am sure we can do this and our challenge is to do this better and cheaper than everyone else who will soon jump on this bandwagon. But in being an innovator or even being the messenger for the innovators requires a substantially different mindset. Innovators need to see long term and they need to see where the puck is going to be.
And that's when I realized that our website products should not be focused exclusively on forward thinking physicians. With the continued political and economic pressures being brought to bear on medical practitioners and the challenges associated with running their own business, most of you are already working 70, 80, 100 or more hours each week. When are you expected to have the luxury of time to think about innovation?
And so with that one little epiphany, I forever have purged the concept that my new little company is for forward thinking physicians. Rather it is to bring the Internet technologies to all physicians and hope that through technology, all of you can have a more profitable practice and more free time to practice your golf game.
Until Next Time..
Self Service, Now Appearing at a Physician Near You. John Alders
The American people are suffering from time bankruptcy. Now some will blame the technologies that shift work from business back to the consumer, while others will argue that shift allows consumer survival by making services available 24x7 in a world where time has become their most precious commodity. For the moment, let us assume the latter and you can surely relate to the example of the ATM machine. Yes, you are doing some of the work that bank employees at one time did, but you are doing it anywhere, anyplace and anytime.
Whether you are ready for it or not, the self service revolution is hitting the American medical consumer in a big way in 2007. Steve Case's $500M comprehensive website, Revolutionhealth.com and his acquisition of multiple health companies, with the intent of “revolutionizing” health care by empowering consumers is but the tip of the iceberg. Daily we read about the explosion of PHR's, the drug companies no longer courting physicians but going straight for patients and the emerging non-traditional physician practices like “cash only practices”, walk-in mall clinics, and community urgent care centers.
Think about it, on a daily basis the American consumer hands over, in a secure way, his bank, credit and other personal information for the privilege of not standing in line for a teller, not waiting at a travel agent to get a ticket and avoiding a trip to the bookstore to get the latest best seller. Why then would they not come to expect the same type of 7x24 availability to refill a prescription, set-up or reschedule a non-urgent medical appointment, or get their latest lab results?
Beyond consumer expectation, there are other forces at work. At this site, we have recently spent much of our research efforts to bring you an explanation of the evolving concepts known as Web 2.0.
Surely those of us willing to be early adapters of the democratization of web services and participatory community stand to be big winners as the dinosaurs are pushed off of center stage. Is it not time for doctors to understand the service needs of their clients as well as their medical needs? Is it not time that we learn to trust the consumer to do the right thing if given the right information?
Politics and economics will drive medical practices to develop highly efficient models. Consumers will be driven to the models that best meet their individual needs. And whether you believe that the President's proposed reforms will ultimately create a new type of mobility with health insurance or that the demand for services will simply outstrip supply unless further efficiencies can be found in the medical supply chain; in either event, technology and prudent application of that technology will define the most successful medical practices.
60 Minutes told us recently that some refrigerators are now wired to the Internet. The absolute proliferation of information means there is nowhere for your business to hide. If you do not go out and create a place for your patients to interact and exchange views, they will go to sites like Vimo and create that environment for themselves. Your action is an inevitable conclusion, and the only questions are what and when?
While docWebTRC is dedicated to addressing these and other medical eCommerce concerns, we are certainly not the only game in town. A few companies, larger and better financed, are breaking new ground in this area. Physicians can now do e-mail consultation and even deploy expert software to pre-screen patient visits. Yes, we would love each of you to buy our product, but more importantly we need each of you to begin to assess this new world and where your practice needs to be to compete in it.
Professor Wright will be back next month. I will have more to share with you in April. As always, we welcome your comments and/or intellectual contributions.
Until Next Time.
The American people are suffering from time bankruptcy. Now some will blame the technologies that shift work from business back to the consumer, while others will argue that shift allows consumer survival by making services available 24x7 in a world where time has become their most precious commodity. For the moment, let us assume the latter and you can surely relate to the example of the ATM machine. Yes, you are doing some of the work that bank employees at one time did, but you are doing it anywhere, anyplace and anytime.
Whether you are ready for it or not, the self service revolution is hitting the American medical consumer in a big way in 2007. Steve Case's $500M comprehensive website, Revolutionhealth.com and his acquisition of multiple health companies, with the intent of “revolutionizing” health care by empowering consumers is but the tip of the iceberg. Daily we read about the explosion of PHR's, the drug companies no longer courting physicians but going straight for patients and the emerging non-traditional physician practices like “cash only practices”, walk-in mall clinics, and community urgent care centers.
Think about it, on a daily basis the American consumer hands over, in a secure way, his bank, credit and other personal information for the privilege of not standing in line for a teller, not waiting at a travel agent to get a ticket and avoiding a trip to the bookstore to get the latest best seller. Why then would they not come to expect the same type of 7x24 availability to refill a prescription, set-up or reschedule a non-urgent medical appointment, or get their latest lab results?
Beyond consumer expectation, there are other forces at work. At this site, we have recently spent much of our research efforts to bring you an explanation of the evolving concepts known as Web 2.0.
Surely those of us willing to be early adapters of the democratization of web services and participatory community stand to be big winners as the dinosaurs are pushed off of center stage. Is it not time for doctors to understand the service needs of their clients as well as their medical needs? Is it not time that we learn to trust the consumer to do the right thing if given the right information?
Politics and economics will drive medical practices to develop highly efficient models. Consumers will be driven to the models that best meet their individual needs. And whether you believe that the President's proposed reforms will ultimately create a new type of mobility with health insurance or that the demand for services will simply outstrip supply unless further efficiencies can be found in the medical supply chain; in either event, technology and prudent application of that technology will define the most successful medical practices.
60 Minutes told us recently that some refrigerators are now wired to the Internet. The absolute proliferation of information means there is nowhere for your business to hide. If you do not go out and create a place for your patients to interact and exchange views, they will go to sites like Vimo and create that environment for themselves. Your action is an inevitable conclusion, and the only questions are what and when?
While docWebTRC is dedicated to addressing these and other medical eCommerce concerns, we are certainly not the only game in town. A few companies, larger and better financed, are breaking new ground in this area. Physicians can now do e-mail consultation and even deploy expert software to pre-screen patient visits. Yes, we would love each of you to buy our product, but more importantly we need each of you to begin to assess this new world and where your practice needs to be to compete in it.
Professor Wright will be back next month. I will have more to share with you in April. As always, we welcome your comments and/or intellectual contributions.
Until Next Time.