What Does Innovating at the Ends of the Value Chain Mean for Healthcare?

In the first article in our series, we talked about innovating at the ends of the industry value chain as a critical component to innovating in health care. Innovation at the ends of the value chain means innovating on what delivers value directly to creators and consumers of value — in healthcare, that’s patients and caregivers. Put another way and being blunt, patients and caregivers are the only members of the value chain who matter in healthcare. They have the only permanent place in the value chain. The rest of us (health systems, payors, and other service providers) need to deliver value to patients, caregivers or both to maintain our relevance.

What does this mean for health systems like Providence St. Joseph Health? Health systems are intermediaries, albeit important ones that provide systems, organization, resources, and scale which enable the effective delivery of high-quality care across a care continuum. At PSJH, we are committed to our job as a health system supporting and fostering the relationship between patient and caregiver, working to improve a caregivers’ ability to deliver the best care and enhance our patients’ ability to conveniently access care and engage with us on an ongoing basis to maintain and optimize their health and wellness.