Although new medical technology has been blamed for rising healthcare costs, it can also be deployed as “disruptive innovation,” making it possible for a nurse or medical assistant to deliver a medical service that once required the skill of a doctor. The cost of the procedure will be reduced and more people will have access to it, according to Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor. In an interview published in Health Affairs, Christensen says an increasing number of diseases can be precisely diagnosed, which allows lower-cost health personnel to provide “rules-based therapy.” He speculates that in 15 years, cancer will become a disease treated by rules.
Disruptive innovation won’t reduce the cost of treating chronic diseases such as lupus and diabetes as much as it will acute medical problems, said Christensen, although the trend toward making patients more responsible for managing their diseases will have some impact. Medically complex cases that aren’t standard aren’t ready for disruptive innovation yet, but Christensen notes that applying the rules of the Toyota production system in tertiary care hospitals that treat complex conditions could cut overhead costs by 65% and labor costs by 7%.
