Innovation In Health Care: Amazon-Style

Aaron Martin, V.P. and CDO at Providence St. Joseph Health in Seattle has created a new blueprint for healthcare innovation. The plan is based on innovation strategies that Martin observed during his time as a director at Amazon.

“The U.S. health care industry is experiencing change at a historic pace. Nonetheless, it’s difficult to harness these divergent changes to achieve innovation on a widespread scale. And yet that level of innovation is not only desirable, it’s essential.” — Excerpt from Bringing Amazon-style Innovation to Health Care

Lower costs

• Robust primary care services reduce frequency of ER and urgent care visits, prescription costs, and specialty care services often associated with chronic illness
• On-site clinics increase access for employees who would otherwise have to leave work to see their primary care provider
• Highly coordinated referral management ensures patients get matched to the best services at the lowest cost
• Rich informatics and claims-data allow clinics to be customized to your organization
• Vera Whole Health saved Seattle Children’s Hospital $2.8 million, including a 54.92% reduction in prescription costs

Better outcomes

• Annual Whole Health Evaluations and health coaching services empower patients to improve their own health
• Vera clinics impact company culture, leading to better health outcomes for all employees

Positive experience

• Empathetic listening models and time-rich appointments with providers create trust between patients and providers
• Clinic integration within a company’s culture leads to higher engagement, 83% at the City of Kirkland’s Vera clinic after two years

Why does Martin think Amazon’s strategies will work for healthcare? “They figured out what customer priorities won’t change and then focused only on them, so that everything they do addresses at least one of the customer’s core needs. That way, they don’t need to predict the future. We need to do the same in health care,” says Martin.

Vera also identifies what patients need. Then we deliver on it. We’re partnering with patients to give them the healthcare they deserve and want. Lower costs, better outcomes, and a positive experience; who wouldn’t want that?