There is no worse feeling for a sick person than having to manage a dozen healthcare applications, portals, and payments in order to get better, which is what is causing a trend toward simplifying digital healthcare in 2022.
The traditional method of managing high-deductible health plans and large out-of-pocket balances using things like health savings accounts (HSAs) is becoming more and more of a stretch for households in every income sector as healthcare expenses rise at a time when consumers can least afford it.
Some predict that a near-term consolidation will bring a survival-of-the-fittest element into the digital healthcare landscape, allowing the strongest point solutions to survive alongside big markets that reduce the burden of healthcare on consumers from diagnosis through payment.
Choosing the HSA option That does not always apply to the typical American who cannot pay the unforeseen medical expenditure, he said. Whether it’s the GoodRxs of the world or the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company from a manufacturing viewpoint, new models are always emerging that are only focused on how to help save consumers money.
Companies like Lynx are taking a platform-based approach to simplify payments and point solutions using the FinTech-as-a-service for healthcare paradigm. Additionally, he anticipates physicians to embrace it more as healthcare gets more consumerized.
The new healthcare models, according to Renfro, “will extend to kind of mimic what we expect in loyalty programs from other industries, where companies are starting to think through how [to] help increase the purchasing power, not just for prescription but how can we extend more value for over-the-counter products or for vision, dental, and so on.”
Renfro teased Webster that Lynx’s mystery partner relates healthy behaviors to customer perks like cash back, adding, “a partner we’re not permitted to reveal at this moment.” He believes that this represents the future of more patient-centered treatment and payment choices.
