Another week in Silicon Valley

I visited Silicon Valley twice in 2013. The first time was with The Columbus Trip (De Columbusreis) on which I reported live on Skipr. The second time was during a trip organized by Radboud REShape to a conference on Singularity.

I will be back in San Francisco again next week, this time not only to 'take' but also to 'give', or at least to study whether people here, in what may be the most innovative part of the world, are interested in our healthcare innovations from the Netherlands! An exciting quest. When I talked about it, several people asked me to follow up my previous blogs with my experience, so I couldn't resist taking on the challenge.... Therefore, this week I will publish another series of blogs on healthcare in Silicon Valley.

The malleability of society...

What has been puzzling me lately about Silicon Valley is the malleability of our society. Uber, Airbnb, Netflix, Spotify; hardly a day goes by that we don't read about an American company raising millions or even billions for further expansion. And to be fair, these companies really are doing something unique. They are changing entire sectors through the smart use of technologies. Uber is turning the taxi business upside down. Anyone who wants to can be a hotelier through Airbnb. And Spotify and Netflix enable us to choose which music or video we want to listen to or watch at any time. With the vast amounts of money these businesses have at their disposal, it almost seems as if the world has to conform to them instead of the other way around. Of course this results in a certain amount of friction from the traditional parties in the sector. But why? What do these initiatives have in common? And will the same thing happen with our healthcare...? I am interested to find out the answer to this question.

Technology, technology, technology...

It has been said for some time that healthcare too is subject to disruption and that it will change radically due to exponential technologies. And, although I believe this certainly will happen, I am not seeing many real revolutions yet. "I believe healthcare will change radically, but I am not seeing many real revolutions yet" Yes, more and more hospitals are offering the possibility of making an appointment online. And yes, I can even access my medical records online if I want to. And if I want to monitor my vital signs, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of devices available to monitor my heart rate, activity, blood pressure and who knows what else on a daily basis. These are all examples of brilliant technology and complex technological links of the back offices of major healthcare institutions that make information available to the public. Very important, valuable and not to be downplayed, but is this the major revolution we have been promised as the solution to all of our problems?

Customer experience makes the difference

In my opinion, an important answer to this question lies in the position of the customer, referred to in healthcare as the patient, client or resident. The big difference I have seen up to now between most of the technology in healthcare and the 'Ubers' or 'Airbnbs' of this world (and don't forget booking.com, which was founded in the Netherlands) is that, for these companies, technology is basically nothing more and nothing less than a tool to guide customer experience.

Technology itself is not the objective as it so often is in healthcare. Technology makes it possible to turn processes that many regard as customer unfriendly into a fantastic customer experience. Uber arranges a taxi within three minutes of an order, changes the experience from anonymous to personal because the technology shares the name of the taxi driver and the customer, including his 'rating' or 'friendliness', and provides a smoother transaction with payments made through the app (and no more fussing with tips or drivers taking a longer route to earn extra money). Netflix enables me to choose what I want to watch when I want to watch it. And Booking.com shows me hotels as well as experiences of other travelers. Everything is transparent and the customer is in control. The same applies to Airbnb, Netflix, Spotify, Blendle and Roomlr (a rapidly growing site for vacation rentals).

So what about healthcare?

Yes, in my opinion the same is going to happen in healthcare. Looking at our own projects at FocusCura, I see great examples in which our healthcare partners really use technology to guide the customer experience of their patients. Home care organizations Omring, Beweging3.0, ZuidOostZorg, Proteion, DeZorggroep, ActiVite, MeanderGroep, Zuidzorg and Thuiszorg West-Brabant are just a few examples. Video care is not just another project or pilot for these parties. It is part of the care provided and a tool that enables the customer (client) to stay in control and gives him/her access to care 24/7 if necessary. Just like organizations like Sensire, Slingeland and Pantein use cVitals to keep an eye on their patients on a daily basis instead of just at the annual regular checkup. I don't think we're doing badly at all in this area in the Netherlands, but of course that is why I'm currently in San Francisco.

Learning

I am very curious as to whether I will see examples here from which we can learn. How superior customer experiences are created in healthcare as soon as technology has evolved further and is combined with a desire to provide the best possible customer experience. "Physical care supplemented with virtual care, accessible whenever it's needed" Physical care supplemented with virtual care, accessible whenever it's needed. Here in Silicon Valley, have they progressed to the point of using healthcare technology to influence the customer experience and provide even more personal care? Or is it mainly about cutting costs and working more efficiently? And what do doctors and nurses think about this? After all, they are the ones who do their utmost every day to give their patients the best possible care. Will technology support them or will it do the opposite?

The Netherlands leads the way

I hope to find the answers these and other questions over the next week and will report on my experiences. I have scheduled some interesting appointments with eHealth companies and with primary care providers (family doctors and health centers) and secondary care providers (hospitals). I will also visit some senior citizens' organizations. I am interested to find out how they use technology and how they react to our concept of Blended HomeCare and Mobile Clinic (home monitoring combined with video consultations). There appeared to be a lot of interest in our healthcare innovations and approach as we made our appointments with Thijs from the Healthcare Innovation Transfer USA program of the Consulate General of the Netherlands. We'll see what happens!

This blog was previously published on Skipr.nl.