A shift from ownership to usage in eHealth?
January 11, 2010 3 Comments
Patrick Koch, Carestream Health
Why do we have to own something to use it? In some areas, the question is not even asked. Take electricity, for example: it’s obvious that it does not make sense for everybody to own his or her own power plant. This same logic applies when discussing many other goods and services.
What is the key difference, and why is the answer more obvious in some cases than in others?
The level of competence and effort necessary to maintain usage of an asset may influence the decision about ownership (e.g., maintaining and repairing the car, maintaining the house or patching the software). Many people today are less willing to use resources to purchase and maintain “systems” — knowing that due to increased complexity of systems, the level of effort and energy is ever increasing. That may be why usage without ownership is increasing.
Examples of this shift abound in technology: the Internet, software provided as a service (SaaS), and so forth. But this is not the only situation. Take Michelin, the leading tire manufacturer. The company now offers tires as a service! It manages tires for big carriers, and charges for usage. As a result, Michelin can build tires that last longer without jeopardizing their revenue, and the carrier reduces or eliminates the need to manage supplies and inventory.
All of this is creating what is known as the “service economy”, or “functional service economy.”
Did you know… Carestream Health entered this “service economy” years ago and is already hosting 12 million medical imaging studies per year in its data centers? Customer benefits include long-term management, protection of study and image data, and more (check out our website for more eHealth Managed Services info).
And what about you? Are you ready to do whatever it takes to retain and protect your data during the coming decades?
- Patrick Koch, Worldwide Business Director, eHealth Managed Services
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As the Imaging superhighway and PACS infrastructure is built out throughout the country and world, what does this mean to the professionals and vendors who have contributed to it? Does the internet transformation of the airline and music industries provide a preview of tomorrow’s imaging marketplace?
Dr. Eng:
I would agree with you that the internet (and its supporting infrastructure) is going to significantly reshape how diagnostic imaging services are delivered. In fact, this has even already started and one can see some of the premices. Digitalisation of the information and virtualisation of the tools break the physical barriers and enable new ways of doing. Many industries have been through this perfect storm already, and the result is usally ‘more services, cheaper and faster’. Many constraints apply to healthcare given the content of its services. But for sure, we, at Carestream, work to bring to healthcare professional – and ultimately patients – the tools that will help them to deliver their services in a more effective way and with higher quality.
Thanks for your comment!
Patrick Koch, Carestream Health