Paul Keckley writes in The Keckley Report that hospitals are still stuck in their traditional ways of doing business while Amazon responds quickly to the changing demands of the market. Among his remarks:

“Amazon sees an expanding market for its service, entering heretofore uncharted turf boldly. It made its offer for Whole Food a month after meeting with John Mackey and the Whole Food C suite the first time. Our acquisitions {in hospital sector} tend to be slow and operating costs post-merger/acquisition don’t go down.”

“Amazon sees consumers, their needs and wants, and orchestrates in company to maximize their satisfaction and loyalty; hospitals think about patients as users, but physicians as their customers, and under-estimate opportunities to address patient needs

“Amazon sees an unlimited range of products and services as their domain; hospitals think in terms of inpatient, outpatient and medical staff services, and modest attentiveness to healthiness and well-being

“Amazon sees the convergence of clicks and bricks in the delivery of its products and services; hospitals bet on buildings and clinical programs with digital health still an after-thought for many.

“Amazon sees growth potential in {various} sectors and takes no prisoners in its execution. …. hospital growth strategies tend to be less dramatic and predictable.

“It seems to me we need to think differently about the future for our hospitals and make that case boldly in our communities, to policymakers and with our employees. We should be in the health and well-being business while streamlining our programs and services targeted to the sick and injured. We should operate as regional systems of health responsible for the delivery and financing of care so efficiency and effectiveness are balanced and optimized. We should locate our clinicians and care teams in concentrated, strategically located facilities closer to where our populations live and work and embed digital technologies in their homes, work places, schools and personal communication devices….”

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