Introduction to the OBR Newsletter
written by Will Kurtz, M.D.
November 13, 2020
The OBR Newsletter Content
Welcome to The Orthopedic Business Review.
The OBR newsletter is an open ended exploration of ideas and topics geared towards applying tech themes to healthcare and orthopedics. We will discuss how technology trends in other industries may unfold in healthcare. We will have a particular focus on how the internet and ecommerce has affected other industries in both positive and negative ways and make predictions about how these forces could affect orthopedics.
Our target audience is orthopedic physician leaders, innovative healthcare businesses, and healthcare investors.
The inspiration for the OBR newsletter mostly comes from these sources:
Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s Invest like the Best podcast
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal’s Acquired podcast
Ben Thompson’s Stratechery articles and Exponent podcast
Hamilton Helmer’s book, 7 Powers
Clayton Christenson book, The Innovators Dilemma
Many digital healthcare technologies could improve healthcare providers’ relationship with their patients but some technologies could disintermediate healthcare providers from their patients. This newsletter will discuss how healthcare providers (HCPs) may choose to adopt these technology to obtain a competitive edge in their marketplace (offensive) or to prevent others from owning their doctor patient relationship (defensive). With limited band width, HCPs must decide which technologies to invest their time and money in pursuing and which ones to have a “wait and see” approach. Technology will drastically change the healthcare system over the next decades. The only debate is when and will HCPs be a part of that innovation.
To the doubters out there who say technology will not disrupt healthcare because healthcare is too complicated, I would ask you to ponder this quote,
“Neither Redbox nor Netflix are even on the radar screen in terms of competition.” - Jim Keyes, CEO of Blockbuster, 2008.
or one of the other 48 quotes in this article where the leaders could not see how the internet was going to change their business model. If you still have doubts about where the future is heading, go ask your Alexa or Google home assistant what you should do for your knee pain. They have an answer. For now, Alexa provides a non-threatening answer from Mayo Clinic, but imagine when Alexa suggests an Amazon Prime knee brace, virtual physical therapy, and an appointment with a healthcare provider in Amazon’s narrow network. Travel agents, publishing companies, entertainment companies and bricks and mortar stores have all been affected by the internet, ecommerce, zero margin cost distribution, and aggregation theory. What makes us think healthcare will be different?
Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries are a large socioeconomic problem with large financial implications for our society. The large total addressable market (TAM) and lower acuity of most orthopedic problems makes orthopedics an attractive space for innovation. Change is coming to healthcare and will likely start in orthopedic. If orthopedic providers allow non-clinicians to solve these MSK problems, the results will be disadvantageous for both orthopedic patients or providers. Orthopedic providers need to stay engaged to help shape these MSK innovation. We can not circle the wagons and try to protect the status quo. Healthcare is too expensive with poor customer service to believe that incumbents can resist the change forever. With this OBR newsletter, we are bullish about the positive effects of technology on healthcare, but want to be thoughtful about some of the implications and potential outcomes. The OBR newsletter is not about bashing Big Tech. We want HCPs to be engaged and thoughtful about how technology changes could affect our industry for the better and the worse.
This newsletter will also talk about issues related to orthopedic practice management and innovations in the business of MSK care. We aim to provide transparency into practice management and help independent orthopedic practices thrive in an increasingly complicated world. Our goal is to promote strategic conversations among healthcare providers (orthopedist) about how to run their practices and try to look around a few corners to see what might be coming down the road. We hope to discuss future trends in orthopedics and healthcare before they enter our market. We will not tell you how to do a hip replacement, but we may discuss potential business models around hip replacements in ten years.
The OBR Newsletter Mechanics
This newsletter will be emailed once or twice a month to everyone on our mailing list and also be available as a blog on this website. We will post links to the articles on LinkedIn and Twitter. We encourage all readers to visit the OBR blog site to read other peoples comments and share their own thoughts.
This newsletter is free. All we ask is that you share your knowledge with the group by leaving a comment on the blog and forward this newsletter to anyone who might find this information helpful.
The opinions expressed in this newsletter are strictly my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my practice, Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance, or other orthopedic surgeons. My opinions are formulated from serving on my practice’s board for the last 5 years and as president for the past year. I do not plan to discuss any topics where I might have a conflict of interest, but if I do, I will clearly disclose any conflicts.
I write this newsletter in large part for myself. My intellectual curiosity is scratched only through the thoughtful considering these issues that comes with writing my thoughts down. The process of having to coherently explain my ideas helps me formulate beliefs about the future of healthcare and hopefully helps my practice successful navigate the future. If you have an opinion that you would like share or wish to write an article, please leave a comment on the blog site, contact me, or send me a direct message on LinkedIn or Twitter.
If you are uninterested in receiving this newsletter, please unsubscribe.
Sincerely
Will Kurtz, M.D.
Nashville, TN
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