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Healthy opportunities to profit from data

Expanding on some of the same themes we outlined in our blog on data in healthcare this article similarly views the current time as one of opportunity, driven by commercial need on one side and converging and complementary technologies on the other – a well recognised recipe for profitable business.  If the use of data, combined with software automation can do this whilst reducing the overall costs involved (or even reducing their rate of growth), all sides can win.  

For this to happen, there is however a need to be willing to share – not just technologies and profits (for successful businesses, there is plenty of scale to allow some profit sharing) but also individuals.  To drive this, individuals need to see both the clear benefits and be confident in how data is to be shared and what it is being used for.  In this context, there is some caution, not helped by various recent disclosures on the use and collection of data by the larger internet companies.  A need perhaps too, to consider how we release data (how often does anyone have the time /inclination to read through the terms and conditions in full before we click?) and equally, for those storing and using it, a responsibility to make these terms shorter and clearer?

We are increasingly working with companies in the software space to identify how to capitalise on these opportunities, identifying who they should be talking to and helping them prepare for their next phase of growth, at whatever scale, through partnerships and sharing,  sourcing growth capital or building a position with a targeted group of potential acquirers for exit.  In this we are helping business owners establish angles on how they can grow and thinking around opportunities to crack, not just healthcare, but also other high growth areas such as education.  Key to this is liaising between businesses from early stage to contacts at large global corporates and cross border specialist Private Equity funds.  

Indeed, as I write this, I am currently on a plane to Chicago for a 6 monthly conference with our international partners, to help maintain our finger on the pulse of who is doing what globally.  One objective, among several, is to bring that different perspective and access to 3rd parties to our clients.

“Healthcare now is at a similar point to when smartphones first launched….The emergence of big data, cloud technologies, smartphone adoption and an explosion of data capture suddenly enable data to be linked together and processed for new insights.”
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“We’re on the verge of a data-sharing revolution in healthcare,” ……“The historical approach to doctor-patient confidentiality has been to keep healthcare records under lock and key. But the best way to treat a patient is to unlock the data and cross-reference a patient’s file with others to gain better insights.”

By Richard Hall on 07/11/2019