Vin Gupta, MD, MPA is a pulmonologist, Air Force Veteran, and Amazon Pharmacy Chief Medical Officer. He was hired by Amazon in January 2020 to lead the company’s efforts to grow its presence in the healthcare space. health economics We sat down with Gupta at the HIMSS23 conference in Chicago to discuss the latest trends in healthcare and what Amazon’s growing presence in the industry means for physicians.
Health Economics: Where is healthcare consolidation headed? Will a few large companies dominate the market, as happens in retail?
Vin Gupta, M.D.: I feel there are a lot of opportunities in the market. I’m a little out of Amazon’s role, but with the US healthcare system estimated to spend $1 trillion by 2028, opportunities abound. I feel very lucky to be part of Amazon because I think we are just one of many players. So it’s not integration for me. I think it’s about solving the current rampant problem. Because I think that without new entrants like ourselves and others, those problems will continue to exist.
ME: So do you think Amazon is bringing a fresh perspective to healthcare?
VG: absolutely. It’s really just engagement by convenience. We think we can make it a lot easier to get your medication to help you stay at home. If so, the free home delivery service and simplicity of price transparency at the point of prescription, auto-refills, pill packs, and other features can help. It’s about embracing us, not engaging with patients. We know how important it is in improving results.
ME: Sounds great for patients, but what does it mean for doctors?
VG: Let’s take the example of a pharmacy coupon. I am very optimistic about what it means for my fellow healthcare providers. What it does mean is that the prescription points become much more useful not only to the patient but also to the provider. No need to search for coupons, no administrative burden. You can have that discussion at the point of prescription. Previously, this was not a standard experience for providers. It’s usually “Doctor, it’s too expensive at the retail pharmacy down the street. I didn’t know you had a coupon.” A 2018 survey showed that 85% of these individuals had never redeemed an available coupon, so simplifying the basic experience would not only help patients, but would also benefit providers. I think it will also help reduce the administrative burden dramatically. I also think it reduces workflow.
ME: A big theme for HIMSS this year is AI. What does all this big data and AI mean for the average doctor? Where does a doctor fit in all this?
VG: I am incredibly optimistic about some of the particularly large language models being built to facilitate differential diagnosis. Many of these applications are now in the hands of trainee clinicians, especially for medical education, by young doctors and young nurses in training at home or while they are seeing patients. , better resources are available. first time. Now the way we test and train our trainees is whether you’re right or wrong. Continuing medical education licensing exams are entering a world that actually helps us understand decision-making in real time. . Where did we go wrong in the clinical decision-making process? Thanks to AI, we can take action to get to the root cause. Oh, they accomplished exactly 8 steps in this diagnostic framework, but they just missed step 9, so I’ll go into more detail there. For now it’s binary: either you’re right or you’re wrong. Therefore, our ability to provide highly targeted support will make you an excellent clinician across the board. It also helps where it would be nice to have an assistant tell you. Have you thought about this? Have you thought about it? Ultimately, I hope it helps enable better care in the long run.
ME: Burnout is a big problem for doctors around the world. Will these technology solutions help?Doctor promised her EHR would help, leading to burnout.
VG: I know it’s too early to say, but I really think it will help us maximize our potential. I love this kind of innovation. Because it helps with transcription and workflow. We see thoughtful applications of AI to make clinicians’ lives easier, to support decision-making, to medical education and to stressed inner-city caregivers. This has a way of directly addressing burnout and making life easier for clinicians and allowing them to practice at the top of their license. This is important. With fewer MDSs and DOs to care for a larger population, by the end of this decade, one of her five doctors will be over the age of 65. Therefore, we need to get the highest medical license as soon as possible, and I think AI can help make that possible. But again, if you haven’t partnered and heard directly from providers, you’ve heard a lot of information and partnered and done Amazon pharmacies. This is one of the reasons why the partnership has resulted in double-digit growth in the last four months. I love how open we are to this kind of dialogue. And I think those at the forefront of AI should do this too.
ME: Administrative burden also affects burnout. It looks like AI can assist doctors with the paperwork monsters they have to deal with on a daily basis.
VG: One of the worst experiences for clinicians, and ultimately for patients downstream as well, I think there are already some indications that AI can help streamline pre-approval. All in all, I know multiple stakeholders are thinking about the issue, just like us. So over time, I think we will see permanent solutions where AI can solve these problems. AI is part of the solution. But frankly, I think it’s important to go back to basics and do really well at Amazon Pharmacy today. What we are looking to integrate and expand in his 2023 are coupons, price transparency, affordability, value selection, product delivery to your home as expected, familiarity with retailers I think it’s an offer such as doing the basics. Roots, and applying it to pharmacy. If we can do that at scale, I’m very excited to see what that means for patients and what we can do to ease the administrative burden. I think the thing removes the administrative hassle that should really be simple. In parallel, these AI innovations can help. But even the basics have not been done on a large scale. And I think that’s where we can derive unique value from our technology-advancing approach, coupled with our core strengths and logistics.
ME: You mentioned previous approvals. Do you think you can get real-time approvals?
VG: It’s kind of like stepping into my role as a clinician and what I’ve seen from the wider ecosystem on this is what we’re totally doing as pharmacies today and it’s possible. I think we’re getting to a point where we can be smart enough from a technical software standpoint that uses the ICD 10 code. With some understanding of what has been tried in the past, and combining that information into an algorithm, a person is actually eligible for the next step up in treatment. It’s not hard to imagine it being automated. That’s what we think, and we know what many of our peers think. I think over time it will be something that will be addressed.
ME: What do tech companies need to do better in healthcare?
VG: I think what we’re building is going to build trust with patients because we can give them what they expect. It corresponds to this moment of existence. The results we’ve seen in the last three years are not very reliable. So just translating that to me, not from Amazon’s point of view but just being a clinician, the moment you think about trust and trust, how do you think about all these great tools that patients have I always wonder if Injured health message. How do you ensure trust in what works? We have to realize that we are starting where we may not have been in 2019. Remember we have to build , we have to regain the trust of many patients. , even with these great tools that we have.
