Healthcare is too local for big tech
A month ago we wrote that startups would win the race to build AI solutions for imaging. Now, the big tech firm which made the most noise about doing that is reportedly selling its healthcare arm.
HBI Intelligence members can read our coverage here. IBM is reportedly considering the sale of its Watson Health unit. Our sources allege that it failed to adequately tailor its products to local conditions – and by any (financial) measure, the experiment cannot be hailed as a financial success with many believing it to be unprofitable. Amazon’s occupational healthcare venture with JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway failed before it even got running.
The Silicon Valley motto of ‘moving fast and breaking things’ clearly does not work with healthcare where patients and doctors have the balance of power and local culture is everything. Big tech will know better than anyone that handling healthcare data is not the same as leveraging social media traffic data, but shifting an entire organisational culture accordingly takes more than acknowledging it needs to be done. And tinkering must be done under the hood of the (impressive) machine to make sure it provides what locals need, which may not match up to its default specs.
None of this is to say that disruptive moves like AI and new models for covering employees – the targets of these ventures – are not gaining traction. But it seems it may just be the established healthcare players and those closest to patients and doctors with a seat at the table, not tech giants based out of California as seemed to be the case a few scant years ago.
We would welcome your thoughts on this story. Email your views to Cameron Murray or call 0207 183 3779.
