Falls By 2050, the 65+ population is expected to grow to 83+ million (double what it was in 2012)1. We all know and don’t enjoy thinking about it, but most of our parents are either in this category or soon [...]
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Where would the 3D machines be ideally positioned in the market? I can see individual clinics wanting to have more of the value chain under their control, but they would also be limited in their economies of scale. Also, does this change the reimbursement landscape associated with dental procedures that require molds? If all practices adopted 3-D molds that saved costs, would clinics then get reimbursed less from insurance companies since the average price of procedure is reduced? On a more fun note, maybe in the future, we will see a fad of customized dental moldings of various shapes and designs.
This is a fascinating company. Each year we can see how the sports industry has added small features that make the experience more enriching. The yellow 10-yard line in football, instant replay, and mic’d up hoops. This would be a huge step in keeping fans engaged into the sports they love. I wonder how the company tackles some of the practical challenges with providing video on an athlete. For example, in a fast-paced game I imagine the footage could “as the athlete sees” but a little dizzying for a 3rd party viewer. Is there software to help stabilize the footage or small engineering components that can ensure high quality video of the athletes’s perspectives. Also, in many sports I think teams have exclusive partnership with certain apparel brands like Nike. Would FirstVision be forced to partner in order to get the camera placed onto jerseys?
This was really interesting since I had thought Garmin had already become extinct following the introduction of smart phone maps. I was surprised to see that Garmin was able to make some headway in the wearable case. Do you think they can continue carving out a niche in this area given that the space is very tight? Would the wearable devices from Google and Apple just come around with their location services and eat Garmin’s lunch again? I’m wondering if there are other industries where Garmin’s GPS technology would be able to find better product market fit. For example, perhaps they could partner with drone companies (or related companies like Amazon) where more precise location tracking in a larger geography would be more beneficial.
I agree that large tech companies like Apple will be a large threat to Fitbit. Even with body temperature and oxygen, I think Fitbit will need to think hard about what clinical attributes they can truly detect. The ability to track steps is a little bit of a gimmick. Sure, it can tell you if you walked more in a given day but it lacks true behavior change. In fact, a recent study showed that people who wore fitbits actually lost less weight than a reference group (http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/20/494631423/weight-loss-on-your-wrist-fitness-trackers-may-not-help). Perhaps there is an effect where if a user hits 10,000 steps, they feel they have earned the right to eat a double-fudge cake. Right now Fitbit has greater share of mind among people, but without true technological innovation that can measure clinically useful attributes and drive meaningful behavior change, I think it’s sunk.
Nice, we cited the same study showing 20% of NHS’s carbon footprint being related to the pharmaceutical industry. As medicine becomes advanced, I wonder how this will affect the dumping of harmful active by-products. For example, would an increased use of biologics reduce the use of toxic chemotherapies?
I absolutely agree that companies like J&J which have large portfolio of consumer health products are well positioned to support disaster relief efforts. I just hope the emissions costs of transportation to remote regions are given a “lighter” look for the humanitarian value they give.
I agree that J&J, like other companies, could improve on knowledge sharing and collaborating on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. This is simply a win for everyone and not a conflict of interest.
From what I understand from visiting Napa, the community is also having trouble addressing the increased tourism in the area. Ironically, the same climate that creates great wine has also attracted a significant amount of traffic that accelerates the impact of climate change. Do you think there are opportunities for the NVVA to pass regulation to help preserve the delicate environment that is so conducive for grape growing? In addition to Rob’s suggestions above, could they somehow add a non-obstructive public transportation to reduce the sheer number of cars emitting greenhouse gases in the region? Will innovations in seed/microbiomes become a more important aspect of ensuring grape growth? Maybe even flavor?
I agree that Monsanto should invest in other types of R&D to address the changing climate. I find the development of these seeds to be similar to the drug industry in that there is significant upfront costs. With pharmaceuticals, these costs can be recouped with higher pricing and an opaque payment system. However, in the case of Monsanto, do you think there is a limit to how much value can be driven from farming companies which I imagine already run on low margins.
I’m curious to hear what are the greener methodologies farmers can use to help trap more greenhouse gases within the soil. Also, why hasn’t Monsanto already worked on seeds that can survive in harsher climates. It this because working on seeds resistant to herbicides/pathogens is more technologically feasible and more profitable?
Glad you decided to write on a hospital system. I hadn’t realized that hospitals contributed that much to greenhouse gas emissions. The comparison of 44,000-98,000 deaths due to carcinogenic chemical exposure to preventable medical errors is shocking. This same comparison could be used as the hook for an article about how hospitals can improve their processes to reduce these deaths.
Of the ways hospitals consumer energy, I would imagine that a lot of this has to do with the sheer scale of the operations. It would be interesting to see how the energy consumptions/capita is in hospital compared to other large consumer volume industries like hotels. Alternatively, I wonder what this metric may be when comparing across different types of hospitals – academic, community, clinics, etc…
I agree that hospitals are caught in a tough position of having to prioritize short-term goals. I find it hard to find which one of the services that you had listed above could be reduced without affecting the quality of care provided for patients. Instead of reducing the operating times and services of a hospital, it makes sense that hospitals could try pressuring their suppliers to be energy-efficient. There surely can be cost-saving lessons shared among hospital systems – I’m sure many industries would like to spend less money on consultants.
Nice, a healthcare company to read about! Wow the goal to be 100% renewable by 2050 sounds quite ambitious. Depending how clean energy tech evolves over the next few decades, how will this affect the costs to produce all of J&J products? To me, this is a far tougher challenge than the other goal of having all their new buildings LEED certified.
The product life cycle CO2 impact is an interesting concept. I recognize that the thought is to look at the broader picture of J&J’s impact on the environment. However, I wonder what happens when a company in-licenses technology. Would J&J have the corporate responsibility/obligation to factor the resources used during the development by the partner/acquired company?
I absolutely agree that J&J can support victims of natural disasters, often exacerbated by climate change. While many healthcare companies can provide their products for disaster relief, J&J can have a even more significant impact given its product portfolio.
On the topic of predicting new health trends, I imagine large companies like J&J have epidemiology groups who are working on predicting future burden of certain disease areas. Perhaps there is opportunity to share knowledge and collaborate with local authorities to better mitigate the impact of natural disasters.