GoLiveClip The Netherlands

POSTED April 7th, 2016

a Two-Bladed Knife: why we should focus on affordable health care innovations in the areas of lower complexity

In a letter to the Dutch parliament, Edith Schipper, our minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, has recently stated the vision and ambitions of her ministry – ambitions that to our content are exactly in line with those of Gociety Solutions!

Just as we have, these past years, she emphasizes the importance of focus not just on technological innovation in the complex health care area, but also on affordable new technologies in the areas of lower complexity. The reason for this is two-sided: affordable new technologies in the health care areas of lower complexity – like the ones Gociety Solutions offer – not only have the potential to influence the quality of millions of lives. They also offer the opportunity to largely save the available financial and human means for exactly those complex technological innovations that can change the course of life-threatening diseases, but that tend to be very costly. An advantage that cuts both ways!

When people think of technological innovation in health care, minister Schipper writes, the things that usually come to mind are revolutionary breakthroughs like the ability to print organs, the use of nanotechnology to discover and prevent diseases at an early stage and the development of completely individually tailored cancer medication. Of course these are dazzling examples of human progress and innovation in the health care sector – but they’re the far from being the full story.

It’s the small changes in the health care process, such as the use of telemonitoring, e-health, smart apps and other innovative technologies that have been developed to allow people to take their health care into their own hands (for a fraction of the current cost), that form the conditions without which these groundbreaking technologies would not be possible!

So, to make sure that health care remains available for all citizens in the future, minister Schipper directs a clear request to the Life, Science & Health sector: focus on the kind of innovation that can contribute to the management of health care costs in the future, and on the care process rather than individual products.

This is exactly what our Gociety Solutions offer: a model of preventions, early indicators and permanent distant care, which functions exactly as the two-bladed knife the minister is referring to: on one side it dramatically increases the quality of life and care, while on the other side it largely reduces the costs, keeping health care affordable for anyone – now and in the future.

Our new years resolution? To join forces with the ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and engineer a ‘health deal’ that will substantially change both the quality and the affordability of distant care!