3 ways primary care can succeed where disruptors fail

As retail and tech giants continue to expand into health care, one question on everyone’s minds is this: Why do some of these behemoths—often referred to as health care “disruptors”—fail while others succeed? And for independent primary care physicians, the question goes deeper. Of those that succeed, do any pose a threat to financial sustainability to primary care in the next 3-5 years?

An opportunity for primary care physicians

To understand the impact of disruption on primary care, we must first identify the most important common trait of successful disruptors in the primary care space: the ability to combine a consumer orientation with an innovative care delivery model that focuses on the needs of specific subsets of the population.

In the short term, these disruptors do not pose a significant threat to traditional primary care physicians, whose patients are far more heterogeneous. However, as the industry continues to evolve, we’ll likely see an integrated ecosystem of traditional providers and disruptors striving to fulfill consumers’ needs.

To best adapt, here are three steps primary care physicians can take now to prepare for continued health care disruption.

Health care disruption will continue, and physicians must be willing to adapt. Too much is at stake to remain stagnant: this is a $5.3 trillion industry ripe for innovation. Physicians have an opportunity to think about the role they want to play in the new health care ecosystem. Medical practices that embrace this opportunity will be the most successful in the long run.

Eric Mayeda is the Managing Partner and Leader, Strategic Transformation, at Chartis, which works with more than 900 clients annually to develop and activate transformative strategies, operating models, and organizational enterprises that make US health care more affordable, accessible, safe, and human. Chartis helps providers, payers, technology innovators, retail companies, and investors create and embrace solutions that tangibly and materially reshape health care for the better. Learn more at www.chartis.com.