After a prolonged period in a stable but largely unresponsive condition, the patient is beginning to show signs of life. The healthcare market has been slow to develop for mobile operators, stalled by regulatory and organizational complexities in national healthcare systems.
But previously-anemic business models are now looking stronger as operators find creative ways to deliver sustainable m-health revenue.
Among the early innovators is Turkey’s second operator, Turkcell. Its SMS information service for expectant mothers launched in 2010 and now has some 110,000 customers each receiving around three messages a week. The company is also working on a home monitoring service for diabetes and hypertension sufferers, among other initiatives.
Turkcell’s innovation is not especially in the design of its m-health services – other mobile operators will follow much the same path, forming similar partnerships with medical institutions and device manufactures. Orange Healthcare, for example, also offers a pregnancy advisory service in Egypt.
Where Turkcell is ahead of its peers is in recognizing its true value in the healthcare value chain. Yes, consumers and patients can benefit from remote consultations that save travel expense and stress and help them take a proactive role in their own care. Yes, healthcare providers can potentially make huge savings in the cost of delivery.
However, the wider benefits of m-health will fall outside the doctor-patient relationship. More importantly for sustainable business models, m-health services present a valuable marketing platform for pharma and other medical suppliers seeking to promote their products to targeted audiences.
Big pharma is currently undergoing a fundamental rethink of its business model. Drug R&D is a high-cost, high-risk game. Breakthrough treatments can earn billions, but the rigors of regulatory compliance exhaust the potential of the majority of products before they ever get to market.