It’s time for a quick reality check regarding the healthcare ecosystem. Yes, healthcare is notoriously slow to embrace innovation. The industry is highly averse to risk, while increasingly advanced technology frequently clashes with stringent regulations and safety requirements. The idea of healthcare ecosystems can seem daunting at first glance. But despite these challenges, healthcare ecosystems are already being built today, and it’s easier than you might think.
Why the Time is Right for the Healthcare Ecosystem
The ecosystem of care isn’t just a vision for the future, it’s already happening. The technology framework exists, regulations are pushing for change, and competitive pressure is forcing healthcare organizations to innovate.
Here are four key reasons why ecosystems are becoming the next logical step for healthcare transformation:
Reason #1: Proven Technology Infrastructure
The foundation for healthcare ecosystems has already been laid. Two critical technological innovations, open APIs (enabled by the FHIR standard) and large language models (LLMs), are making it possible for disparate systems to connect and share data seamlessly.
For instance, b.well’s platform leverages open APIs to integrate diverse healthcare applications, contributing to a healthcare ecosystem that connects patients, providers, and services. Our platform’s care needs feature exemplifies this integration in action. By using digitized evidence-based medicine guidelines, we deliver personalized, automated care recommendations directly to consumers through the b.well app. These personalized insights help close care gaps and improve health outcomes, without burdening clinical teams with more manual work.
Use case: Care Gap Closures
- Over three years, b.well’s platform significantly increased quality performance by closing care gaps through personalized outreach and health data connections. As a result, clients saw a 39% increase in annual wellness visits, a 40% increase in breast cancer screenings, and an 85% increase in colorectal cancer screenings.
- How it works: The platform’s clinical rules engine analyzes health data and automatically generates actionable care needs, which are delivered to consumers along with educational content and next steps.
Reason #2: Supportive Regulatory Environment
Recent regulations, such as the HTI-1 Final Rule and TEFCA, are pushing healthcare organizations to adopt interoperability standards and embrace data sharing as the regulatory environment is evolving from one that’s voluntary to one that will eventually be mandatory, and there’s good reason for that.
The benefits go beyond compliance. By integrating data from multiple sources, healthcare organizations can now offer highly personalized care experiences that take into account patients’ medical history, preferences, and insurance coverage. For example, by centralizing benefits information and access options on a single platform, b.well enables users to make informed decisions about their care, helping to reduce non-emergency ER visits and improve healthcare utilization.
Use case: Appropriate Care Utilization
- One of our clients saw a 44% reduction in non-emergency ER visits by centralizing access options and providing personalized education through our platform. This not only saved costs but also ensured that patients received care at the most appropriate sites.
- How it works: The b.well app provides real-time access to alternative care sites, such as urgent care and telemedicine, with educational content guiding consumers to the right level of care.
Reason #3: Competitive Pressure
The healthcare landscape is more competitive than ever, with patients increasingly aware of their healthcare options. Traditional healthcare models are struggling to retain patients, as they face competition from urgent care centers, telemedicine platforms, and retail health providers.
In this environment, organizations need to offer a frictionless experience that makes healthcare access easier for patients. A healthcare ecosystem allows organizations to provide that experience, integrating data and services across multiple platforms so patients can access care without navigating a fragmented system.
For instance, our Self-Service Actions feature enables seamless appointment booking and insurance integration, reducing administrative burdens and improving patient engagement.
Use case: Self-Service Actions
- By streamlining digital booking and pre-visit workflows, one client saw a 1.58 ROI within 18 months, achieving a 90% pre-visit completion rate. This not only reduced administrative workload but also generated $3-4M in projected revenue.
- How it works: The b.well platform offers features such as appointment scheduling, insurance automation, and pre-visit form workflows, which allow patients to complete necessary steps in advance and reduce the friction of accessing care.
Reason #4: The Healthcare Ecosystem is Already Here
Forward-thinking organizations are already leveraging ecosystems to transform the healthcare experience. These organizations aren’t trying to own every aspect of the patient journey. Instead, they’re becoming ecosystem conveners, connecting best-in-class services and using data to personalize the healthcare experience.
With the writing on the wall, these organizations are using rich datasets to unlock insights and provide personalized recommendations and treatment plans to meet patients’ momentary needs and long-term goals. They’re convening access to best-of-breed solutions and services instead of disintermediating them, so patients can find them without being forced to look in several places at the same time. They’re leveraging their brand and reputation to drive impactful change in the markets they serve, not making bold proclamations of industry-wide disruption and walking away when the going gets tough.
At b.well, we’ve built our platform to support these ecosystems, integrating a wide array of healthcare services into a single, seamless experience. By connecting data, insights, and personalized recommendations, our platform enables healthcare organizations to meet patients’ needs efficiently and at scale with a healthcare ecosystem. Contact us to learn more.
