Why these health companies are focused on preventive care and costs
Why these health companies are focused on preventive care and costs
Among companies focused on driving healthcare innovation, many are focused on bringing costs down and making proactive medicine easier.
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other developed country, yet it has the worst outcomes. Here are the hard numbers: We spend 16.6% of our GDP on healthcare—compared to most developed countries that spend an average of 9.2% of GDP. Despite that, the U.S. performs worse than average on 77% of health status indicators, including life expectancy and limb amputations as a result of diabetes, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
“We’re paying a lot of money for a really fragmented, impersonal system that’s not working for most people,” says Dr. Asaf Bitton, executive director of Boston-based health innovation center Ariadne Labs and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
He notes that the root cause is that the U.S. healthcare system doesn’t focus on prevention. Instead, it is oriented toward a system of specialists who look at individual problems. Most conditions are only treated when they become emergencies, which is bad for individuals and the system. “We’re good at acute sick care, but less good at building longitudinal relationships that maintain and improve health,” says Bitton.
Many of the companies recognized this year as the most innovative companies in healthcare are stepping forward to pick up the pieces. Digital health company Egnite, for instance, wants to reimagine heart disease care. It uses AI-powered data analysis to screen patients for early symptoms of stroke and heart failure before they become life-threatening.
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