From business to ball games, the world is filled with competition—but when it comes to healthcare, win-win scenarios are an outcome that we all strive for. That’s why, today, we’re discussing the benefits of coopetition in healthcare.
Coopetition is just what it sounds like: a combination of competition and cooperation. Read on to find out more about how this concept can help healthcare practices succeed.
Benefit #1: Create better patient care
Just like any other medical innovation, training or improvement, coopetition in healthcare can lead to better patient care. Coopetition makes it possible for patients to:
- Have a seamless patient experience when extended healthcare service providers work together.
- Get access to more specialists.
- Choose the best medical professional to address their concerns.
In other words, whatever wins your healthcare organization receives through competition and cooperation—from increased public funding to attracting more patients—your patients will always be the true winners.
Benefit #2: Share risks and gains with other organizations
Patient health is always job number one. That’s why bundled-care models are being explored as a way to improve outcomes for Canadian patients.
By partnering with other healthcare providers, your organization can share the risks and gains that come along with being accountable for patient outcomes. For instance, a hospital could partner with a home care organization to reduce a patient’s time spent in the hospital. If the hospital and home care teams work together, chances are better that the patient will have a good outcome, according to an article by Dr. Kevin S. Chen and Rina Lamba for Longwoods. This collaboration reduces the risk of the patient having a negative experience and winding up in the emergency department.
If your organization is looking into a bundled-care model, take the time to work with partner healthcare providers to build mutually beneficial relationships. You can use a tabletop banner to explain what procedures make sense to work together on, from hip replacements to cardiac surgeries—and why.
You can help make the point stronger with medical giveaway ideas. If you run a family practice, give your patients some bandages and explain that—just as not every little scrape requires a doctor visit—some medical needs can be met without leaving home, like through a provincial telehealth line or a hospital’s virtual emergency department, for instance.
Benefit #3: Offer a seamless patient experience
If your healthcare practice specializes in treating athletic-related injuries, you may want to partner with an organization that offers x-rays and ultrasounds to create a seamless patient experience.
Get in contact with the service provider to discuss creating a mutually beneficial connection. You can send them patients who need imaging services, and they can send you patients in need of additional care, like physiotherapy or chiropractic treatments.
A simple postcard with a convenient decal that highlights what you offer is easy to keep on hand and share with a patient in need. You can also turn giveaways into useful, long-lasting reminders, like a medical-themed notebook or sticky notes that look like scrubs.
Benefit #4: Create innovation
One of the most powerful benefits of coopetition is secure data sharing. While all shared data must follow provincial/territorial, federal and global regulations, sharing medical data makes it possible to innovate and spread knowledge that helps create new medications, technologies and other advancements more quickly.
Benefit #5: Connect to specialists
If your healthcare organization is part of a rural community, you won’t always be able to offer access to specialists when an important need arises. Thanks to innovation in telehealth, your office can perform tests, scans and other procedures, which can then be shared with specialists anywhere in the world.
Everyone’s a winner with coopetition
Whether you’re partnering with another medical facility, striving to be the best at what you do, or sharing data to promote innovation, coopetition in healthcare creates opportunities where everyone can win. And when it comes to healthcare, “getting better” is always the goal.