At its core, the retail success of Amazon.com Inc. has been driven by two things: giving consumers the convenience of shopping at home whenever they want to; and reducing the prices they must pay for what they want [or in some cases, need].
Now health care providers are talking about what the retail industry can teach them about how to deliver their services.
Local hospital groups have been building community-based service locations and are planning more. From ambulatory care centers to urgent-care clinics, along with infusion centers and expanded pediatrics service locations, health care is coming to your neighborhood.
The change in health care delivery promises to do the same thing for consumers that online retailing has done – make it more convenient and less costly. The only missing piece of the puzzle is broad-based home health care services, but that too is coming.
As one health care executive told PBN: “How we deliver health care is going to be changed … based on what the retail market is driving us to.”