What to Expect from the New Health Care Collaboration Between Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase

On Tuesday, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced they would create a health care system with the goal of providing quality care for their U.S. employees. According to the joint news release, the primary focus of the new company will be on technological advances that provide “simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare” at a low price.

While the initial rollout of this health system will focus on the companies’ employees, it’s highly likely that the health care system will one day be introduced to the everyday consumer (after all, it’s Amazon). Currently, there is much debate over whether or not this new health system will work, but it’s hard not to imagine the type of consumer-focused technology that they will employ.

Based on recent health care trends, here are the three modern solutions that Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase will integrate into their health care company.

1. Telemedicine

One of the most talked about consumer trends in health care has been telemedicine. This allows the patient to meet with their doctor through the use of online video streaming for non-emergency treatment.

Telemedicine offers numerous benefits. Doctors have improved access to their patients and can expand their reach, beyond their own offices. Given the provider shortages, in both rural and urban areas, telemedicine can increase service to millions of new patients. Additionally, telemedicine has been shown to reduce health care costs through better monitoring of chronic diseases, the ability to record each appointment and reduced travel times.

Given the substantial number of employees within Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase (in addition to the intense geographic spread of their workers) telemedicine is a must for this new health care company.

2. Online appointment scheduling

A new feature that many new hospitals are integrating to improve patient convenience is the use of online appointment scheduling. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but patients are able to visit a hospital’s website, choose the type of care they need to receive and can schedule an appointment completely online.

Not only does online appointment scheduling improve patient engagement and hospital workflow, but it’s also immensely popular among patients. Research by PatientPop shows that 42 percent of patients want to the ability to schedule appointments online. Additionally, 34 percent of patients make appointments outside of the standard business hours.

By using online appointment scheduling, the new health care company will easily be able to manage hundreds of thousands of appointment demands.

3. Big data

Since the new health care company’s focus will be on technology solutions, the hospital will have an immense amount of digital data on its patients. This means they will be able to implement algorithms to determine risk factors associated with a particular procedure or patient. Big data can assess the likelihood of a patient being readmitted to a hospital or even their estimated recovery time.

The use of big data will allow the new health care company to better anticipate a patient’s needs and determine the best route for treatment.

While there’s much uncertainty about what the new Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase health care collaboration will result in, there is a chance that it will completely revolutionize the health care industry.