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

American Well: The Doctor will e-see you Marketing-I Date of Submission – 14th August, 2012

Team Members AMIT KUMAR 2012PGP030 BHANTI PRATIKSHA DEEPAK 2012PGP084 KUMAR ABHISHEK 2012PGP177 RAHUL BALWADA 2012PGP84 SHRAVAN KUMAR POTNURU 2012PGP356 VEKHANDE AJINKYA KESHAV 2012PGP427

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Promising market opportunities Following are the new market opportunities which are promising: 

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Insurance It can cater to a large pool of customers & also offer cost effective solutions to everyone ranging from doctors, customers, insurance companies, employers, etc. Health consulting Consulting from home would provide privacy & convenience to the patients. American Well system can provide the doctors flexibility to operate without the need to maintain staff, infrastructure etc. Delivery Network /health care Chains This platform has the potential in linking real time excess capacity with real time excess demand. They can provide better customer service, boost revenues & also offer cost efficiencies in health care. Online Consulting This platform can also be used for offering different types of online consulting like Religious, legal advising, accounting services, etc. Expansion Potential customers in Australia, Germany & UK have expressed interest in American Well online care solutions and it can explore these territories by tailoring its services to the need of these markets

The most promising opportunity of all the above is of Insurance market due to the following reasons: a. Insurance companies can provide access to a large pool of patients & doctors. Insurance companies also have internal resources which they can commit to encourage physicians & patients to use online care. b. Health insurance companies were already financially strong & represented a lucrative customer channel. c. One of the main value propositions to health insurance companies is significant savings. This will be possible due to less costly medical attention because of the early treatment of medical conditions. d. Immediately after President Obama assumed office, there was no clarity about the reforms in the Health care system that he had promised before the elections. This resulted in the health insurance companies freezing their spending. e. They can also open their doors to non members. They can provide online consultation to anybody willing to pay out of pocket. f. Initially, insurance companies were viewed as being primarily driven by profit. Online care facility will provide an opportunity to these companies to improve their image & build goodwill with their members. This can be another reason why Health insurance can be a promising market.

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Five 5 C’s Analysis Analyzing Customers 

Patients – They need timely availability of physicians, quality service at affordable price.  Doctors – They need a cost effective solution to manage their load of patients.  Insurance Companies – They have a requirement to provide consultation at an effective cost.  Employers – They need a solution which prevents absenteeism & provides employee satisfaction. Analyzing Context  Demographic Environment – Online service care will enable the doctors to provide consultation beyond geographical boundaries.  Economic Environment – Economic Recession in the US has decreased the purchasing power of its citizens.  Legal Environment – Online care service is compatible to HIPAA which addresses privacy & security risks stemming from increasing use of electronic channels to transmit patient information.  Technological Environment – This technology can be extended to provide services at homes & workplaces. Instant messaging & video conferencing can be used to facilitate the interaction between doctors & patients. Analyzing Company  This platform has the potential in linking real time excess capacity with real time excess demand.  Patients have the flexibility to choose the specialists as per their requirements. Analyzing Collaborators & Complementers  Insurance companies can help American Well to increase its market share.  American well will reduce the cost of insurance, provide employment satisfaction & also improve the productivity of the employees. Analyzing Competitors  Offline health service providers are one of the biggest competitors of American Well.  Other competitors are Rely Health, Medfusion, Teladoc & Cisco Telepresence. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threat (SWOT) Strengths 1.) Intellectual Property – o Possesses proprietary intellectual property which could act as an entry barrier for other players trying to enter in this field 2.) B2B Company – o Like franchise model can target insurance companies o Customers (insurance companies) could serve the company by providing access to large pools of patients and doctors. Insurance companies have their internal resources which they can assign to the marketing efforts

needed to support physicians and patients to use online care. Also, the financial strength of insurance companies presents a more lucrative customer channel than individual patients. 3.) Pricing – o Online Care consultations costs very less than traditional methods for both consumers and insurance companies. This value proposition is a win-win scenario for all four parties – patients, physicians, insurance companies, and American Well – involved. Patients, members and non-members, pay anywhere from $45 - $75 per consultation. Weaknesses 1.) Lack of Brand Awareness – o It is a new brand as compared to other companies which may affect its revenues in the starting but they can capitalize on the fact that their owners have previously started Opportunities 1.) Increasing demand for online communication between physician and patients 2.) State governments often limited the access of their residents to physicians who were licensed to practice in their own state. However, PCPs were typically free to consult regarding their patients with specialists from anywhere in the U.S. Threats 1.) Competition – Established competitors may also adopt a similar product to that of American Well; If that would happen then it will no longer enjoy the monopoly. Value for stake holders a. Patients  Patients would get the medical consultation at a cheaper price  They will also have an ample choice of doctors to choose from anywhere in the country irrespective of geographic location  Unlike regular brick and mortar model, they can save a lot of money and time b. Insurance Companies  Cost saving as the amount spent would be less as online prices is fast and helps in the early detection and treatment of symptoms  Can provide their services to non-insured patients who are willing to pay out of pocket and can tap an entirely new segment  Will help increase their goodwill as they were normally considered as only profit making entity c. Physicians  Can have significant savings on the infrastructure cost  Can get patients which are not from their state d. American Well

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Can get pool of patient records & doctors from insurance companies It can create a whole range of new possibilities in the hospital sector, retail clinics, pharmacy chains It can also expand in international market and go into various other types of consulting once they have strengthened their position in local/national market

Positioning  

Marketing team should focus on various cost and time savings of Team Edition. American Well should use Product Differentiation to position Team Edition as an innovative & all-around solution in the health care industry.

Porters 5 force analysis Industry Competitors – The industry has a huge growth potential & low industrial concentration. Buyer Power - LOW (there are two types of customers; the insurance companies and the final customer/patient) Potential Entrants - LOW for the short term but HIGH long term (They had invested $70 million for this company. So in the long term another company can invest that much money or even more for a better technology) Availability of Substitutes - HIGH (offline health service providers would be a substitute) Supplier Power - LOW (there are already so many competitors on the market supplier don’t have much power. Power of suppliers is only high if it is a niche market and supplies are limited i.e. it’s the only supplier in a particular area that can supply a particular material) 3.

What is the best course of action? Available Options 1) 2) 3) 4)

Establish & Market Primary/Core Product -Online Care technology Develop & Market Secondary Product- Team Edition Expansion to New Segments-Hospitals, Retail Clinics etc International Expansion- Australia, Germany, UK

Online Care technology is the primary product focused on providing a platform which can reduce the cost of care delivery, create new revenue generating opportunities for providers and contribute to a more efficient, convenient health delivery system. This platform is at an incubation stage as it has been marketed to only a few health insurance companies and the potential of this solution has not been realized yet. American Well has yet to establish market share and brand awareness with respect

to already established competitors such as Relayhealth, MedFusion,TelaDoc,Cisco TelePresence etc. Team Edition is a secondary product which can extend the use of primary/core solutions platform to provide real time connectivity between PCP’s and specialists. It would further add value while reducing cost to insurance firms and patients. It would not incur substantial cost as it uses technology of online care solution. Team Edition can be a differentiator for American Well when compared to competitors. Concept of extending the core technology to a new business segment such as Hospitals, Retails Clinics is based on setting up of online care kiosks which may require substantial capital for infrastructural development and marketing. This is a business segment which would require new business resources. However the pharmacy segment can be targeted by using the existing infrastructure. Expanding it internationally could be costly as it requires tailoring/customizing the solution to the specific needs of the local markets and reorganizing the company structure which may require enormous financing. It is also premature to divert resources when the core product is still not established in US itself. Best Course of Action Considering the high value proposition for patients, physicians, insurance companies and health care market volatility due to declared reforms the consolidation of business model based on core product should be stressed upon. As the platform is already adopted by some health insurance companies and tested on small market it should be marketed and established as potential solution to health care needs. Alongside Team Edition can be launched as a differentiator product as it is an extension of the already tested platform and would not require any additional development or resource. It can be a value added model for the health care insurance companies as it provides further time and cost benefits to patients and insurance companies Thus the focus of American Well should be on to market and establish online care solution as primary product with benefits and Team Edition as a value added product. This would help American Well remain ahead of its competitors without undermining its initial online care rollout.