Consumerization of Healthcare

The big picture: From fitness and wellness to healthcare, trillions of dollars are spent each year in the pursuit of well-being. Unfortunately, all that spending hasn’t amounted to much in the way of health outcomes: in the US, about 39% of the population is obese — a number that’s expected to top 50% by 2030.

Telehealth, in particular, can lower costs and broaden access to care. In the last decade, companies like Livongo (chronic disease management) and PillPack (an online pharmacy) emerged to help seniors better access healthcare.

Rather than trying to improve them, the most exciting health tech companies will ignore the parts of healthcare that have become obviously anachronistic, actively discarding convention. The seeds of this difference have been sown in a handful of companies started in the last few years. They are painstakingly taking relationships from incumbents, wi... See more