The latest term to come out of recent brainstorming sessions in the healthcare industry is “co-opetition”. Co-opetition takes place when companies in the same market jointly explore the knowledge and research of new products, at the same time they compete for market-share of their existing products. Competitors, therefore, benefit each other, while simultaneously competing in a new atmosphere of shared vision and mutual interest.
The co-opetition concept has become crucial in the healthcare market, in which companies and providers both struggle to address changing fee structures and shifting care paradigms. Having recently attended several conferences such as Datapalooza in Washington, D.C. and the Health Technology Research and Advisory Council (HTRAC) in Leesburg, VA – the terms “collaboration” and “co-opetition” were key buzzwords used to address the increased need for information sharing.
Collaborations among companies with similar interests and goals are creating higher value products than if they worked alone or in direct competition with each other. Data sources, technologies and expertise are being joined in meaningful ways for physicians, care teams and patients. A perfect example of this combined effort and data sharing is reflected in robust population health management tools.
One of the county’s leading-edge population health management tools is TopCare powered by BlenderTM and was created jointly by SRG Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Laboratory of Computer Science (MGH LCS). The TopCare metrics and algorithms are supplied by the MGH LCS. The configurable software, BlenderTM is contributed by SRG Technology. This joint venture, TopCare powered by BlenderTM, is proof positive of the benefits of collaboration and “co-opetition” and the value and quality of the combined effort is best expressed through the successful outcomes – clinical and financial – that TopCare drives to patients and providers.
