The concept of hybrid care has seemingly been everywhere since the start of the year. It showed up in a number of industry predictions for 2023, was the subject of questions lobbed at Teladoc in their most recent earnings call, and is at the root of agreements like CVS’s purchase of Oak Street Health and Amazon’s rollout of One Medical.
Part of this is because healthcare is now following the proven model of convergence in other industries like ecommerce and retail. But healthcare has its own flavor, what we like to call hybrid collaborative care.
Rather than simply acquiring or growing assets under a single brand, we are seeing a unique collaboration in areas like mental health and musculoskeletal care where distinct virtual and physical providers partner to augment their individual offerings.
All signs for this rapidly evolving formula indicate that the year ahead will be defined by a more methodical integration between the two – revealing a new breed of hybrid care combining virtual health offerings with local physician practices. Winners will be defined by the multi-channel engagement opportunities they provide to patients across online, mobile, and brick-and-mortar clinics.