A business model approach for moving tele-monitoring and tele-treatment from promise to practice

The availability of new information and communication technologies creates opportunities for new, mobile tele-health services. While many promising tele-health projects deliver working R&D prototypes, they often do not result in actual deployment. We aim to identify critical issues than can increase our understanding and enhance the viability of the mobile tele-health services beyond the R&D phase by developing a business model. The present study describes the systematic development and evaluation of a service-oriented business model for tele-monitoring and -treatment of chronic lower back pain patients based on a mobile technology prototype. We address challenges of multi-sector collaboration and disruptive innovation.

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Business models for mobile health care: A service or product perspective?

With the advances in information, communication and sensor technology a new breed of mobile applications become possible that offer new opportunities for health care. These mobile health applications enable monitoring and treatment of the patient in his/her personal environment. I am currently involved in a project were we develop business models for mobile health as a follow-up to a technological R&D project.

What in my opinion is a very crucial decision is whether one should base these business models on a product or service perspective. My first impression is that often a product perspective is taken while a service perspective may be needed. While both perspectives can take the user/patient experience as starting point they differ in how the user/patient is supported in his/her health activities.

A business model for mobile health based upon a product perspective puts the mobile device (phone, PDA, special device) and/or the health software central and has a device or software supplier as focal actor in the supply network. It focuses on buying/selling health devices and/or software.

A business for mobile health based upon a service perspective puts the monitoring and treatment services central and has a mobile health service provider as focal actor in the delivery network. It focuses on the subscription to and delivery of health services.

The choice for a service perspective is not only having a core service instead of a core product, it also forces one to think of facilitating and support services (see a previous post) that increase the user experience and convenience. Facilitating services are, for example, regular updates of the software or in-depth analysis of health data on a remote server. Supporting services are, for example, access to consultation by health professionals or sharing data in communities.

Probably the best option is to have a high-level evaluation of both perspectives before having an in-depth analysis of one of them (or a mix). What do you think of this? Do you perceive these differences? Have you encountered examples of one of these approaches, or maybe a mixed approach?

The relevance of business models: An integrative approach

What is the added value of working with business models for practitioners? I think three of the major benefits are the helicopter view, the structured way of working, and the integrative approach.

I will discuss the integrative approach in this post. I work on mobile services in the health care using the STOF business blueprint method and model (Service, Technology, Organization, and Finance). In a 'valorization' project we try to identify what it takes to bring a specific (technological) prototype application to the market. In one of the business model design sessions a health professional was surprised to find out from an application engineer that the software of the prototype could not be one-on-one transferred into a market-ready product.

What is integrative about this? Firstly, the business model design sessions require the presence of persons from the business side and from the technology side, and stimulate a constructive discussion about their mutual dependence. Secondly, once it was clear that the software could not be transferred, it was possible to think of the consequences for the organization and finance in a structured way. What capabilities are required to build a market-ready product and which organization has these capabilities? What investment does it require to build a market-ready product and what does that mean for the time-to-market?

What are your ideas and experiences on this? Do you see similar benefits? Are these really benefits of designing business models?