{"id":23959,"date":"2017-11-15T16:32:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T21:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/hanging-gardens-of-healthcare-or-tower-of-babel\/"},"modified":"2017-11-15T16:32:28","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T21:32:28","slug":"hanging-gardens-of-healthcare-or-tower-of-babel","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/hanging-gardens-of-healthcare-or-tower-of-babel\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanging Gardens of Healthcare or Tower of Babel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The healthcare industry is ripe for digital disruption.\u00a0 A young U.K. startup by the name of Babylon Health is capitalizing on the existing capacity of mobile phones as a medium to connect patients with general practitioners.\u00a0 In fact, they have created an integrated digital health service which they aim to put \u201cin the hands of every person on earth[i]<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization estimates a current global shortage of 7.2 million health care workers, a number it expects to double by 2035.\u00a0 Babylon Health believes that diagnosis through technology can scale much more rapidly than the production of doctors[ii]<\/a>.\u00a0 Founder Ali Parsa argues that the preponderance of our healthcare needs has little to do with hospitals, but rather simple diagnostics or consultations.\u00a0 Yet we schedule appointments weeks in advance, take half the workday off, and wait hours to be seen[iii]<\/a>.\u00a0 Babylon Health is attacking this inefficiency.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Bartonassociates.com<\/em><\/p>\n

The company provides a subscription service through its smartphone app, which uses an A.I. chatbot to query and triage patients for a practitioner.\u00a0 The patient can then consult virtually on demand with a general practitioner (GP) through their phone.\u00a0 GPs diagnose and prescribe medication for delivery to the patient or advise an in-person visit if necessary[iv]<\/a>.\u00a0 Says Parsa, \u201cI\u2019d trust a machine over a human any day of the week \u2013 and I already do\u2026[e]ven highly-trained and competent medical professionals are not infallible[v]<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 The company claims 92% accuracy in its diagnoses, while doctors and nurses are 82% and 77% accurate respectively.\u00a0 Currently, the average doctor performs 7,000 consultations each year.\u00a0 Such technology could dramatically improve overall capacity by decreasing patient traffic at hospitals, increasing speed and accuracy, and increasing patient throughput per doctor.\u00a0 The A.I. will never replace doctors, but in the next 10 plus years it can be a more precise compliment while costing 80% less per hour to treat a patient[vi]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Critics are concerned that firms like Babylon Health are cherry-picking talented GPs away from an already dwindling pool.\u00a0 Competitors like HealthTap employ 60,000 doctors, which are paid per consultation.\u00a0 Babylon, however, employs a full-time cadre of 100 doctors, which minimizes the siphoning of existing GP pools, minimizes costs, and allows Babylon to offer cheaper prices than competitors[vii]<\/a>.\u00a0 Others are wary that mobile treatment risks fragmenting health services to the public by attracting younger, healthier people while excluding those with chronic and mental illnesses, pregnant women, and elderly which require specialists.\u00a0 While it is difficult to predict if this technology will further stretch or fragment the GP population, much depends on the integration and adoption of existing organizations.\u00a0 Babylon does not intend to compete with the U.K.\u2019s publicly funded National Health Service (NHS).\u00a0 Rather, the technology is backed by the NHS, which has now reduced wait times to minutes[viii]<\/a>.\u00a0 Such alignments should also serve to create synergies in allocation of GPs and reassessing hospital patient demographics.<\/p>\n

Babylon has tested a variation of its concept in Rwanda for the past year.\u00a0 The shortage of doctors and queues at clinics are no different, but austere environments and poor populations add a new twist.\u00a0 Babylon set up kiosks around the country and now provides services to over 600,000 Rwandans for less than a dollar per consultation[ix]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As Babylon Health expands and experiments, it will certainly need to modify its technology in developing nations to achieve its end state.\u00a0 Until mobile phone and internet can further penetrate developing markets, Babylon may have to modify its delivery mechanisms.\u00a0 Most importantly, the company must transparently synchronize efforts with government and private health organizations to ensure a lasting solution.\u00a0 Moving forward, should Babylon apply the \u201ckiosk method\u201d to reach other emerging nations before internet and mobile networks do?\u00a0 Could this work in the current U.S. healthcare environment?<\/p>\n

[783]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> Babylon Health, \u201cThe Babylon Purpose, https:\/\/www.babylonhealth.com\/our-mission\/, accessed November 2011.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> Loder, Natasha, \u201cIs There a Doctor in My Pocket?\u201d The Economist: 1843<\/em>, (October\/November 2017): https:\/\/www.1843magazine.com\/technology\/is-there-a-doctor-in-my-pocket, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> Solon, Olivia, \u201cBabylon app puts a GP in your pocket,\u201d Wired,<\/em> (28 April 2014): http:\/\/www.wired.co.uk\/article\/babylon-ali-parsa, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> Rogers, Charlotte, \u201cMeet the healthcare disruptors treating patients like demanding consumers,\u201d Marketing Week (Online)<\/em>, (8 June 2017): ABI\/INFORM via ProQuest, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[v]<\/a> \u201cRevolutionising healthcare: What part does tech and industrial design play?\u201d medGadget<\/em>, (2 October 2017): https:\/\/www.medgadget.com\/2017\/10\/revolutionising-healthcare-part-tech-industrial-design-play.html, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[vi]<\/a> Murgia, Madhumita, \u201cHow smartphones are transforming healthcare,\u201d Financial Times<\/em>, (12 January 2017): ABI\/INFORM via ProQuest, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[vii]<\/a> Olson, Parmy, \u201cThe A.I. Will See You Now,\u201d Forbes<\/em>, 22, (12 November 2015): Business Source Complete, EBSCO, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[viii]<\/a> \u201cWhy doctors are worried about an NHS smartphone app offering 24-hour GP consultations,\u201d Sunderland Echo<\/em>, (6 November 2017): http:\/\/www.sunderlandecho.com\/news\/health\/why-doctors-are-worried-about-an-nhs-smartphone-app-offering-24-hour-gp-consultations-1-8843071, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[ix]<\/a> \u201cDoing More With Less,\u201d Health Care, The Economist<\/em>, (11 November 2017).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A young U.K. startup by the name of Babylon Health is capitalizing on the existing capacity of mobile phones as a medium to connect patients with general practitioners.\u00a0 Their mission is to put \u201caccessible and affordable health service in the hands of every person on earth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9967,"featured_media":23960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[669,2062,2807,887,744,3733],"class_list":["post-23959","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumer-health","category-digital-health","category-doctor","category-health-care","category-hospital","category-nhs","hck-taxonomy-organization-babylon-health","hck-taxonomy-industry-health","hck-taxonomy-country-united-kingdom"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2017\/","yoast_head":"\nHanging Gardens of Healthcare or Tower of Babel? - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/hanging-gardens-of-healthcare-or-tower-of-babel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hanging Gardens of Healthcare or Tower of Babel? 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