MARKETING

MANAGEMENT
Case: American Well - The Doctor Will E-See You Now

Group Members

 Abhishek Upadhyay 18A1HP099

 Anindya Basu 18A1HP081
 Akshita Jain 18A1HP082
 Ashish Gupta 18A2HP446
 Akshita Agarwal 17A3HP469
 Khushboo Bardia 18A1HP053

Assignment submitted to:-

Prof. MANOJ DAS
Case Questionnaire

Q1. Do you share the assessment of the founders regarding the potential of online care to
revolutionize healthcare delivery?
Yes, we share the similar assessment as that of the founders of the company American Well
regarding the potential of online care in the healthcare industry.
The idea was to remove the hindrance of physical location and time availability by creating a
service which bridges the gap of supply and demand. It provided a online platform which
revolutionized the way a patient and doctors interacts. The company also had different value
propositions for different stakeholders which made a win-win situation for all the stakeholders
in the following way:
Patients - According to Exhibit 5, it can be seen that 56% of the people voted for “there is less
time waiting for an appointment” and 45% voted for” saves on transport cost.”
So, convenience, affordability, accessibility, immediacy and quality were the points of focus
for them. The biggest hindrance of location and time was removed for them, there was no need
to schedule an appointment in advance. Physical queues turned into virtual ones, and the
services were more personalized with self-management tools and records of care.
Doctors - The value proposition for doctors varied intensely. The working hours were flexible,
an opportunity to earn extra on weekends or late hours, alleviated the need of extra
infrastructure and so reduced the cost. The registered physicians could easily log in to the
system and take sessions with the patients.
Insurance company - The amount which the insurance companies reimbursed to the
physicians for online consultation was lower as compared to the office visit. Thus, it is a cost
effective strategy for insurance companies. The Acturial Digest estimated that online care could
save insurers $3.36 per patient per month. Moreover, they were also able to open their doors to
nonmembers who were willing to pay out of their pockets.
Also, over the next two decades, the Americans over the age of 65 would comprise 1/5th of the
total population. Thus, the potential of online care to revolutionize healthcare delivery will
prove to be beneficial.
Q2. What value do you see “Team edition” creating? What barriers to its adoption do
you foresee?
“Team edition” was the next generation service concept that was about to be launched by the
American well to revolutionize the interactions between doctors.
It facilitated connectivity of the patients with the specialists if referred by their respective PCPs
at the same time if necessary.
Some of the values associated with Team Edition are as follows:
 Real Time Connectivity: The main purpose of this next generation product was to
connect the patients to the specialists if they are referred by the PCPs’ so as to avoid
the wastage of time keeping in mind the patients comfort.
  Solution at Initial Stages: Finding solution for the patient’s ailments at the initial
stages would not only reduce the complications but would also reduce the cost for the
health insurance companies.
 Medical Licensing Barrier: For Team Edition, it was quite easy for the PCP and the
specialist to have an inter-state interaction without any barriers as most of the states
traditionally imposed medical licensing barrier.
 Quality of Care: Because of the interaction among the patient, PCP, and the specialist
at the same time would result in discussing the case of the patient in a better way and
would result in delivery with much better care and consultation.
Potential Barriers to adoption of Team Edition can be:
 Security Issues: There might be concern in patient’s mind as they thought that their
private information might be leaked related to their health issues with this new
technology and also the physicians would fear the malpractices litigations.
 Over-utilization of health care resources: The doctors were over worked and such a
system would give people a hobby that would lead to over consumption.
 Lack of personal touch: With the introduction of online health care services, the
physical interaction and the checkup of their ailments might result in ineffective
treatment as they were only to communicate their symptoms online.
 Unity between PCPs’ and Specialist: There can be a possibility that the PCP and the
specialist might join hands in near future by manipulating the patients for personal
gains.
Q3. Which of the new market opportunities did you see as most promising?
American Well, having their forte in online health care, is determined to enter the market with
a different and unexplored mindset. They recognize few areas such as hospitals, retail clinics,
pharmacy and globalization as opportunities in this domain. Pharmacy seems to be most
promising among all others due to the following:
 Beneficiary advantage: An online platform will eliminate the concern of
embarrassment that many patients seem to face while interacting offline with the
pharmacist regarding their difficulty. In case of unavailability of the drug, the
pharmacist can assist in finding a right substitute, suggesting side effects for the drugs
(if any). The customers can interact via online chats, video calls, FAQs to address their
concerns in a better way than before.
The online platform can help address problems in real time without location being a
bar.

 Revenue: With American Well building its brand name and becoming a trustable firm,
there shall be stiff competition by rival companies. The possibilities to generate
revenues are endless with advertisements, posters, promotional offers, etc. to attract
customers with reduced prices for their products and services. There shall be a huge
demand for the customer base that American Well will build in the process. Also,
customers would pay a considerable fee for the services availed through the platform.

 Connectivity: The concern to make pharmacies available at every nook and cranny to
cover maximum population remains unresolved due to its limitations. However, this
 solution solves the problem at the roots. With the online platform, connectivity is no
longer an issue - customers can reach out from anywhere at any time addressing their
problems.

Q4. If you were in the shoes of American Well Management, would you pursue any of the
next generation options in 2010 or would you just focus on the core platform with core
target market?
Carrying forward from the earlier question, we can firmly establish that American Wells have
built a firm foundation in terms of customer database in linking with insurance companies.
They are negating any critical wait period in communication between patients and concerned
medical help; reducing medical cost for patients; reducing insurance expenditures for insurance
companies; this would formulate a win-win strategy for all parties; doctors, patients, as well as
employers.
Doctors would get a more flexible opportunity to earn more by working from home, or
at odd hours outside clinics. Patients would be able to gain access to specialists as required.
The average expense would reduce for the patients; the insurance companies would spend
lesser on the first time visits as well as avoid excess coverage when early treatment could
prevent complicated medical procedures which in turn would result in higher expenses.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
1. Established names of founders with successful history in medical sciences and
operations.
2. First mover advantage.
3. Solving critical problems on the basis of real time intervention.
4. Can follow the franchise model to target insurance companies. Further, the existing
database of insurance companies could be utilized to strengthen their foundation.
Weakness:
1. They need to spread brand awareness in order to gain a wider customer base. This would
impact initial costs adversely. Also people need to be made comfortable with the usage
of online access of the system. This might prove to be a challenge.
2. Major concern for the people would be the privacy of their health records and
information. Although in compliance with HIPAA, the risk of information getting
hacked and released in public can turn out to be a disaster for both parties.
Opportunities:
1. With the onset of the digital world as well as American Well building its brand name
and becoming a trustable firm there shall be a clear rise in demand for people seeking
services in online care.
2. Potential expansion overseas as certain countries have expressed interest (e.g.
Australia, UK, and Germany). They can further capitalise on the pharmaceutical outlets.
 3. In this case delivery network via pharmacies is a gold mine. They can link real time
excess capacity with real time demand. The pharmacies can offer first line of help in
case of unavailability of PCPs. They can also suggest alternate drugs with information
of side effects for the patient.
Threats:
1. Competition would exist from those who would approach with a similar business
model.
2. Opportunities are never lost, they are utilized by others. The future players will explore
missed opportunities to capitalise on their growth, possibly with a similar business
model already introduced by American Wells.

“Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Hence, we
would definitely venture out and explore further opportunities rather than only focusing on the
core market. We can have teams to address the various segments. While some focus on the
core market, there should be others with the main focus on expanding outward into other
streams.