Insight experts at Gartner predict that by 2023, at least 70% of enterprise marketplaces launched will serve B2B transactions, with the emergence of niche marketplaces offering various opportunities for business development and growth. Marketplaces tailored toward the healthcare industry are no exception to this, with digital innovation being swiftly spearheaded by the pandemic.
The arrival of Covid-19 dramatically altered the delivery of healthcare services to most individuals. Gone were the days of patiently waiting in the doctor's office as people welcomed safer telehealth services, including virtual appointments, consultations, and diagnoses - all from the comfort of their homes.
This blog looks at how marketplaces quickly became a robust solution for the healthcare industry by delivering improved efficiency, reduced costs, and ultimately driving innovation in the digital delivery of clinical health services during the global pandemic.
Disruption to pharmaceutical supply chains eased via marketplaces
Pharmaceutical supply chains are just one area that faced significant disruption over the last few years. In the early days of the pandemic, companies were left scrambling to find more inventory - with suppliers forced to increase sales, reduce costs, and improve business efficiency, all while anticipating increased customer demands within this unknown landscape.
In the search for new suppliers that could deliver on-demand medication, many healthcare providers turned to B2B marketplaces to find the correct stock and secure the equipment they needed. Through an established network of supply lines, successful healthcare marketplaces were able to deliver equipment with shorter lead times.
Handle is just one B2B healthcare marketplace that helps healthcare professionals stretch their capital while saving on processing times and reducing risk. Marketplaces like this presented lucrative opportunities to providers, who could work more efficiently while improving the quality of care for consumers at a quicker and cheaper rate.
Marketplaces offer less friction and more transparency
Unlike traditional eCommerce, the digital healthcare space has significantly more bureaucracy to contend with. Successful models often depend on several factors, including doctor availability and the ease of filling prescriptions - which is not always practical.
However, marketplaces such as Kwipped - which offer high value, low demand products (often called long-tail items) - saw a considerable increase in the demand for healthcare equipment, notably a 32,000 increase in requests for ventilators in March 2020.
Here, healthcare providers discovered that these marketplaces not only cut through the red tape of standardized procedures in procuring equipment, but they allowed for frictionless acquisitions and more transparency across the whole of the healthcare industry.
Unleashing meaningful data through API marketplaces
API marketplaces can connect industry professionals to data-centric clinical platforms, solving the problem of "too much data". In the healthcare industry, valuable data points are often collected and then siloed, slowing the progress of patient-centric APIs that would significantly benefit the long-term health of the global population.
After a decline in willingness to share data before the pandemic, it appears that consumers are now more comfortable sharing data during a crisis. Stakeholders who are willing to use the data to drive value from their customers can use API marketplaces to analyze consumption patterns and categorize their products based on this information for more targeted conversations.
Marketplaces can securely expose this data and make it accessible for both stakeholders and consumers, enabling businesses to spot trends, improve efficiency, and drive innovation in population health technology. Clinical services and technology are continually evolving, and API marketplaces will play a prominent role within the digital health space.
Marketplaces: A key driver of eCommerce growth in 2022
In the wake of the pandemic, providers will likely continue offering telehealth services as a means of providing high-quality, remote care. Not only will these digital healthcare services benefit the providers, but they have quickly become a popular option amongst consumers.
A D2C model driven by consumers will likely guide the industry's future. For healthcare providers wanting to reduce costs and procure equipment in times of surges (and for patients with sky-high deductibles), alternative payment methods like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) will become a suitable and affordable option for businesses and consumers alike.
While more innovation is needed within the payments sector for businesses to deliver on-demand healthcare to consumers successfully, it's clear to see that this sophisticated marketplace approach to commerce and healthcare is proving to be a helpful tool with many benefits for all parties involved.
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