Description

How can a technology company used to delivering products and services to consumers and industry find success in healthcare? Information communication technology (ICT) firms often fail when bringing new offerings to the healthcare market; a market that represents $115 billion in potential revenue for technology solutions. To answer this question, Frost & Sullivan developed a new way to assess risk using decision modeling and Monte Carlo analysis. This approach, based on a novel method originally developed for assessing market resonance in the aerospace industry, provides insights into the reasons that ICT companies often fail when bringing new technologhy to the healthcare market.

ICT vendors often oversimplify the difficulties and rewards of entering healthcare and are then bitterly disappointed when success proves to be elusive or unobtainable. Frost & Sullivan developed a way to assess real risk and estimate true market resonance. This process, which incorporates the extensive experience and insights of Transformational Health analysts to adjust the parameters of the model, provides a much more extensive foundation for assessing risk. This research is then applied to demonstrate market resonance for six major ICT vendors.

In particular, Frost & Sullivan research discloses that it is critical to success to evaluate the market resonance of a particular product or service in the context of that market, rather than simple cost and benefit. In order to estimate the risk of market entry, a model is needed that involves variables such as the necessity of the product or service, the impact on patient care, and the impact on the clinical workflow. Once a new offering is evaluated on its ability to influence each of the important variables, it is possible to run a risk assessments that, while not guaranteeing success, can help maximize the potential for a receptive market response.

Healthcare is now moving quickly to adopt new technologies, and the US government is accommodating this adoption through more streamlined evaluation and approval processes; however, the healthcare technology market can still be fraught with risk for the uniformed or unwary. Frost & Sullivan's new approach for assessing that risk can literally mean the difference between success and failure. Adopting this analytical approach can signficantly improve an ICT vendor's prospects.

Major questions this research answers include:
• What variables are the most important when assessing risk of entry into the healthcare market?
• How can these variables be used to assess the resonance of a new product or service with potential healthcare decision makers?
• How can a resonance and risk assessment be used to more effectively position a new offering in the healthcare space?

Author: Michael Jude/Victor Camlek