Ruksi Gregory's Profile

Thanks for writing this blog post Matt! I agree that telemedicine is the way of the future and a viable way to make healthcare more accessible to many people who don’t currently have access. However, one other big challenge that comes to mind is that not all EMRs have the capability to integrate with telemedicine technologies. At athenahealth, where I worked prior to HBS, we partnered with several telemedicine companies to create opportunities for our providers to adopt the technology. However, EMRs, especially the smaller, custom EMRs, struggle to integrate telemedicine services into their existing technology.

In addition, in a survey of 500 tech-savvy consumers, 39% indicated that they hadn’t heard of telemedicine and 42% said they preferred in-person doctor visits. [1] That being said, some of these concerns will likely be addressed with time but worth considering as this technology makes its way into the industry. Assuming with time, these issues are addressed, I’m still left with one concern as it relates to telemedicine – are patients trading in quality for convenience?

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-telemedicine-is-transforming-health-care-1466993402

Thanks for the commentary, Javier. I wrote my TOM Challenge on Stitch Fix using big data and artificial intelligence to predict future trends and demand. I think adopting artificial intelligence might apply well for Zara given the value that can be derived from the use artificial intelligence. In addition, the use of artificial intelligence is being adopted by Zara’s competitors. Within the last year, Uniqlo announced that to compete in the retail space, it will attempt to shorten its design-to-delivery cycle to 13 days, on par with Zara. One mechanism Uniqlo is utilizing to manage this critical timing is artificial intelligence. “That cobalt blue hoodie or coral dress shirt, for example, will hit Uniqlo a moment or two before it actually becomes ‘a thing’”. [1] Therefore, to address your question “How is Inditex going to maintain its competitive advantage?”, I think in order to stay competitive, Inditex should investigate and likely adopt the use of artificial intelligence.

[1] https://www.gq.com/story/uniqlo-fast-fashion-speed-zara-competition

Thanks Christina for this research! It is very interesting to see the efforts Aetna and other payers are putting into technology partnerships. One of my concerns regarding some of these efforts is the impact. For example, while wearables are enabling more technology adoption by users, the data from wearables has not made its way into EHRs and therefore has not led to action taken by patients. [1] I can see a future in which this information can be incredibly useful and actionable. However, given that at this time it is not being used, I worry that the hype and interest in wearables will deteriorate ultimately making it much harder to convince users to readopt the wearables once the technology is more advanced.

Another concern is the recommendation for Aetna to harness big data and predictive analytics. While I agree that this would be ideal, given that data is stored on hardware on-site and has limited standardization, it would be incredibly challenging to accumulate the data to do this analysis. From my perspective, until there is more regulated standardization across healthcare, the compilation of data will continue to be an incredibly manual burdensome process. [2] [3]

[1] http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20170930/NEWS/170929877
[2] https://healthitanalytics.com/news/top-10-challenges-of-big-data-analytics-in-healthcare
[3] https://revcycleintelligence.com/features/why-healthcare-needs-value-based-supply-chain-management

Thanks for this writeup! In my last role, I managed a relationship with for a hospital inventory management company, so it is interesting to hear about additional companies disrupting the status quo of inventory management. I think the focus on digitalization will become even more important as organizations move to value based care. Fortunately, RFID technology is one of the technological advances that allows vast amounts of data to be leveraged broadly and incorporated into the supply chain process. The data element of this service is critical because it enables and supports the organization’s transformation from fee for service to fee for value. It does this by eliminating a huge proportion of hours spent managing data accuracy and data integrity. Therefore, in a value based care system where the low cost and high quality of patient care is critical to success, this labor cost reduction is extremely impactful. [1] The one element organization’s need to be cautious of is that while inventory management systems streamline and simplify the process, it is still essential that the organization has strong operations. While the technology is essential, the operations behind the technology is what enables the system to be scalable and sustainable.

[1] https://revcycleintelligence.com/features/why-healthcare-needs-value-based-supply-chain-management

Thanks for this post Tracy! The pharmaceutical industry is one that continues to emerge in conversations about improving efficiency and reducing costs in healthcare. As you mentioned, the challenges in the industry range from the complexity of the trials to regulations to patient access. While I do think digitization can minimize some of these issues, such as minimize the hurdle of recruiting participants via cleaner and more accurate data, the most prevalent challenges such as the complexity of the trials and regulations might not be addressed with these changes. [1].

In addition, it appears that the number of volunteers registering to participate in clinical trials in the US has been declining due to lack of awareness, fear or distrust, and preconceived notions about clinical trials. Physicians also don’t like to engage in clinical trials because they believe standard practices are best, lack of awareness, or the perception that they would lose control over the care of their patient. [2] I worry that unless digitization can help in educating and eliminating the perceptions, digitization won’t address the root of the problem that the pharmaceutical companies are facing.

[1] https://knect365.com/clinical-trials-innovation/article/e414c9b9-8de9-4525-8fe6-fe6264d36df0/report-biggest-challenges-clinical-trials-pt-1

[2] http://blog.sollers.edu/clinical-research/what-are-some-of-the-biggest-challenges-of-conducting-a-clinical-trial

This is such an interesting topic Ivan. Thanks for sharing! The first thought that came to mind when I read your post was “are other companies like Campbell doing this?”. In doing a little research, it seems like Campbell’s competitors, Kellogg, General Mills, etc. have taken a similar strategy. [1] The one differentiator that makes Campbell’s choice riskier is that they invested in an unconventional food start-up. While the other competition has chosen more traditional food startups, Habit is more of a “science” focused start-up in the food space than “food” focused.

My concern with this investment in thinking about this from the perspective of Habit is Habit’s decision to affiliate with a more traditional CPG company. While Campbell’s investment is clearly a financial benefit to Habit, the reputational risk of the association might lead to less adoption if the millennial generation ends up focusing on Campbell’s traditional portfolio rather than this new offering. I think Campbell’s needs to do their best to maintain brand distance from Habit to ensure that the Habit has the space to create its own unique, “real fool” brand.

[1] http://fortune.com/2016/10/26/campbell-soup-invests-habit/