Impact of new technologies on business models

Dhe healthcare system in Switzerland today is one of the most expensive in the world. At the same time, however, it also offers a high quality of care. Total healthcare costs have risen almost every year since 1960; including inflation, they were almost 36 times higher in 2013 than in 1960 (source: Kosten und Finanzierung des Gesundheitswesens, Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2015). Medical innovations, demographic developments, the increasing demands of patients and resource shortages are the key challenges that are putting pressure on the management of hospitals, old people's homes and nursing homes. At the same time, medical innovations in the form of digital technologies serve to optimise costs in the healthcare system in the future.

From a microeconomic point of view, it is necessary to further develop and professionalise entrepreneurial management in healthcare facilities. A stringent culture and strategy development must be holistically conceived with flexible business models, sustainable organizational structures and management systems. These corporate conceptual challenges shake up traditional understandings of roles. Medical and business conceptual success positions must be meaningfully combined in an integral and market-oriented organizational management. In doing so, the concerns of patients must be taken into account, while also keeping an eye on the future of the entire organization from an economic and strategic perspective. Management is thus responsible for integrating digital technologies into the operational activities of the healthcare facility.

Benefits of a digital strategy
The business model usually describes the logical functioning of an organization in terms of how it creates value. The business model can therefore be understood as digital if the value creation of an organization is heavily dependent on information and communication technologies. Key technologies for digitization initiatives include big data analytics and management, social media, mobile technologies, cloud computing, Industry 4.0, and sensor networks. The digital maturity of organizations often depends on the sector. In relation to the healthcare sector, it tends to be below average overall, as the digital value chain is not implemented throughout. Successful healthcare organizations have a digital strategy and are characterized by a deep understanding of the potential of the digital transformation of business processes. The following question fields form the central elements of a Digital strategy of organizations, which also help to determine the respective digital maturity level:

• Vision and strategy: Does the vision/mission/mission statement and strategy take digitalisation into account? Are new, innovative fields of activity being developed?
• Leadership: Is normative, strategic and operational leadership secure, effective and efficient, based on an optimal supply of information? Are knowledge advantages generated in all areas of the organization via new technologies?
• Patient interfaces: Is master and movement data actively maintained via a modern hospital information system? Are the needs of patients/relatives actively recorded and quickly integrated into the decision-making processes?
• Products and services: Are the latest technologies used in the medical, nursing and organisational care of patients?
• Organizational culture: Is digitization diffused across all organizational units and hierarchical levels into the respective sub-cultures of the organization and are people actively connected internally and externally
• Value creation process: Are the service creation, utilization and support processes designed and operationalized without media breaks?

Management competence as the most important success factor
Managing the opportunities and risks of digital change is a key success factor in many industries. The know-how for this must be built up not only in the IT-specific departments, but also at the level of management and the board of directors. They must be familiar with concepts of the digital transformation of business processes, assess the benefits for business model development via instruments, determine the sustainable value contribution of the digital transformation of business processes and be able to further develop the organization in this regard. This includes:

• Strategic transformation of the business model, new regulations regarding tasks, competencies and responsibilities
• Integrated qualitative and quantitative rolling multi-year planning
• Digital collaboration platforms to simplify cooperation
• Flexible and mobile working with full data access
• Provision of resources by the Board of Directors and the Executive Board for the implementation of digital transformation projects
• Digital customer/patient and supplier data integration
• Digital team set-up in internal and external networks
• Digital marketing communication
• Automation and efficiency increase in core and routine processes
• Performance management via digital reporting and controlling mechanisms, etc.

As concrete focal points in the digital further development of business models, also in the healthcare industry, the following can be identified Activity fields be identified:

• Big Data: Basically, Big Data is understood as a large complex amount of data that is constantly changing and is difficult to evaluate with conventional analysis methods. Data growth, data complexity and speed form the central characteristics of the data. The challenge is to evaluate employee-related data with patient data as well as with data from value-added accounting, transaction data and market information in such a way that relationships between causes and effects are verified in a common framework - at best on a daily basis. It is therefore necessary to further develop existing hospital information systems (e.g. health IT, use of data supplied by patients via wearables).
• Mobile Enterprise: This involves the use of mobile devices that map and thus support business processes in whole or in part. The use of mobile devices not only simplifies access to the required information, but also enables simple, relevant process optimizations in many cases, such as the recording and management of position data in field service activities (e.g., data recording directly on the patient in the operational hospital business, use of apps).
• Diagnostics and therapy: Digitisation is increasingly enabling the use of sophisticated and advanced technologies to implement new medical visions, strategies and concepts faster than before. Technology thus not only has a dynamic interrelationship with medicine, but also influences modern medicine (e.g. CT scanners that provide three-dimensional films, digital X-rays).
• Social Business: The use of social media can also fundamentally change business models. Here, the use of social networks represents a central company-specific characteristic. The relevant markets can also be changed (e.g. telemedicine) through the media behaviour of various stakeholders (patients, general practitioners, etc.) via social media (Facebook, Xing, Adwards-Campagnes, etc.).

Digitalization requires the transformation of business models in the healthcare industry in order to ensure competitiveness and cost optimization in the future.It can be assumed that traditional-permanent organizations will be squeezed out of the market. Data-driven services will further change value creation and enable the market entry of new players and new forms of cooperation. From a business perspective, it is now necessary to assess the opportunities and risks of the respective organization in this digital context and to develop the digital maturity of the managers, the employees and the organization.