Business Strategy Proposal | Home Telemonitoring Business

Business Strategy Proposal
This document pertains to BMO6511
Strategic Management and Business Policy:
Assessments 2.
Victoria University. www.vu.edu.au . CRICOS Provider No. 00124K (Melbourne), 02475D (Sydney), RTO Code 3113
Home Telemonitoring Business
Jared Sharp
s3108520
WORD COUNT: 1892

ASSESSMENT 2 – PART A
1. VISION
The world we live in a highly interconnected. From the appliances within our home to advanced
complex control systems are connected to information relaying services. According to Miller (2007)
the thirst for connectivity, this has resulted in many major social, technological, and economic trends
in the last decade. Among these trends is the push for telehealth, which principal force in providing
healthcare to underserved communities (Miller 2007). Telemonitoring is one example of a technology
initiative that extends the patient-caregiver relationship beyond the traditional clinical setting that
allows the monitoring of chronic illness and helps consumers track their symptoms.
The venture is based on a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) model where patients are provided with
telemonitoring devices and through the use of a point of health application on a smartphone and/or
tablet, continuous monitoring of symptoms occurs by a ‘telenurse’ at a telemonitoring centre. The
telenurse is responsible for the care coordination with the physican, pharmacist, and/or informal
caregiver ensuring each stakeholder is involved in the care process of the patient. The patient is still
part of a healthcare system, which pays for the physican time and service, but is able to receive the
telemonitoring service irrespective of location or time. The procurement of medications and
reimbursement for healthcare services occurs via regular pharmacies and insurance companies/
national health systems.
The vision of the venture is to revolutionize how technology is used to enhance the physical, social
and cognitive well being of older people with chronic diseases living at home and to support them,
their families and caregivers. To achieve this vision it is proposed that through the use simple-to-use,
personalised technologies, older adults will experienced a enhanced quality of life and wellness whilst
providing peace-of-mind to the patient and caregivers.
2. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT – ANALYSIS
Australia’s population is ageing. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2017, in 2017,
there were 3.8 million Australians aged 65 and over (comprising 15% of the total population). Within
30 years it is projected there will be 8.8 million older people in Australia (22% of the population) aged
65 and over (fig 1). With this increase it will lead to a significant increase in demand for specialised
healthcare services.
Figure 1: Proportion of Australian population 65 years and over
ABS 2017. Australian Demographic Statistics, Jun 2016. ABS cat. no. 3101.0. Canberra: ABS,
The market for patient monitoring systems in Australia is moderately competitive and consists of the
global as well as local players. Software platforms that capture and then transmit clinical data
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BMO6511 Business Strategy Proposal Document

require significant capital investment. The costs associated with the provision of telemonitoring
services are best accessed through an analysis of linked activities and functions that happen as a
result of service delivery. Given this there is a growing trend of partnerships and agreements
between the industry participants, medical device manufacturers and telemonitoring applications in
pursuit of the service delivery.
There are a number of stakeholders with interests in the success of telemonitoring systems. For
instance, insurance companies and patients would experience benefits in the way healthcare is
provided due to more earlier and accurate diagnosis and treatment regimes. This ultimately improves
quality of life and wellbeing of the patient. By virtue of the ability to continuously record health
parameters, Governments and other regulatory bodies would benefits from this data collection with
the view of new legislative initiatives, which could help in future instances of disease outbreaks. It can
be extrapolated that many stakeholders with keen interests to either increase profits, reduce costs or
in the pursuits of increased efficiencies in healthcare delivery could benefit from the telemonitoring
technology.
Healthcare is considered an expensive industry with readmissions leading to significant hospitalisation
costs. A system that potentially reduces trips to hospitals, helps individuals learn about their own
health status and provides a link between patient and physician can significantly decrease healthcare
costs. Whilst traditional medical devices may have a price advantage over Bluetooth technology, this
is considered a time consuming where patients may stop tracking their health conditions. With the
technology of transferring information via Bluetooth-enabled devices to smart devices immediately
and then transfer to physicians will save time for patients and physicians.
In terms of market share, with few major players dominating the market there is significant competition
in developing telemonitoring systems, solutions, services, with advanced characteristics and their
performance. With the myriad of alternatives on the market, the threat of substitutes is moderate.
In Australia the telehealth market is highly competitive with several major players. With over 300
digital health companies in the market they provide a range of services from Telehealth, telemedicine,
diabetic management, telemonitoring, mental health, symptom checking to digital therapeutics and
clinical decision support technologies. Many of the top global companies in telemonitoring systems
have a presence in the Australian. These include Abbott Laboratories, GE Healthcare Australia,
Philips NV, Aerotel Medical Systems Ltd, Sonic Healthcare and Global Heath. According to Wilsmore,
& Leitch (2017), only 9% of the digital health companies in Australia focuses on telemonitoring
services.
Specific to telemonitoring, these companies offer 3 types of healthcare.
Real-time health is the most utilised form of telecommunications that provides an
instantaneous interaction via videoconferencing between provider and patient.
Store and forward service where digital images, video, audio and clinical data is captured and
stored on a computer and then securely transmitted to clinic at alternate location for review by
a relevant specialist.
Remote monitoring with consistent, reliable and accurate monitoring of a patient's vital signs
and predetermined health measures.
Of these companies, eHomeCare is an industry leader who have partnered with a telemonitoring
technology company and integrated an empowering technology platform to monitor clients in remote
areas of Australia. Depending upon unique needs of the client, eHomecare offer a range of products
and customized telecare solutions.
Medtronic is another company that primarily offers a cardio vascular, respiratory and diabetes
monitoring service. With the vision of delivering better patient outcomes, improving access, and
lowering the overall costs of care, they form alliances with healthcare specialists (i.e. healthcare IT
companies, diagnostic providers and caregivers organisations) to deliver a holistic service.
Whilst these companies offer a range of services, upon analysis there are opportunities to offer an
expanded service that includes:
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BMO6511 Business Strategy Proposal Document

Allied health monitoring feedback and program modification
Discharge planning from large hospital to small community hospital
Supporting the assessment, prescription, fabrication, modification and review of specialised
equipment for people with disabilities
Providing community education sessions to outreach sites
Linking clients and Allied Health Professionals to specialist clinics in bigger centres (e.g.
burns, amputee, neurology)
3. INTERNAL ORGANISATION – ANALYSIS
The identification of core competencies creates an essential foundation for preparing and further
developing a workforce to deliver integrated care. These include:
Interpersonal communication: to build relationships and to communicate effectively with
consumers
Screening and assessment: To conduct brief evidence-based screening and arrange for more
detailed assessments when needed.
Care planning and coordination: create and implement integrated care plans, ensuring access
to an array of linked services, and the exchange of information among consumers, family
members, and providers
Intervention: provide a range of brief, focused prevention, treatment and recovery services, as
well as longer-term treatment and support for consumers with persistent illnesses.
Systems oriented practice: function effectively within the organisational and financial
structures of the healthcare system
Informatics: use information technology to support and improve integrated healthcare
Telemonitoring creates the setting where it brings the physician and healthcare services directly to the
patient. Through advances in technology and improved Internet delivery, it is changes the
doctor/patient relationship by making the patients the centre of healthcare delivery. Through
telemonitoring technologies, this improves the convenience of care for patients who are experiencing
mobility issues and allows them to remain in their own home whilst controlling their long-term chronic
conditions.
Patients can be empowered through telemonitoring technology and proves to be an effective tool for
patient education initiatives linked to population health metrics. It also allows a cost-effective and
efficient model for engaging patients in their own clinical care. Orozco-Beltran et al (2018) outlined the
improved patient outcomes through telemonitoring. These included the monitoring and communication
of a patient so that patients have the tools they need to better manage their care.
Both doctors and patients are experiencing significant increases in healthcare costs. High deductible
insurance premiums have increased consumer out-of-pocket costs, which may result in patients avoid
healthcare services. Telemonitoring addresses these concerns somewhat by limiting the travel costs
associated with traditional medical visits.
Through a differentiation strategy, the venture aims to offer responsive customer service, customized
telemonitoring and other high-value products and services, which will result in a higher cost structure.
By making use of mobile technologies, healthcare is extended beyond a traditional clinical setting, and
allows the business to keep an eye on chronic illnesses and whilst allowing consumers to track their
symptoms.
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BMO6511 Business Strategy Proposal Document