Matter. Julie Williamson
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players—an ability supported by its engagement with both suppliers and providers.
It is worth pausing to consider the word “unique,” and it’s one to think about as you pursue your own edge of disruption. Keep in mind that one qualifier for “unique” may simply be that you are willing to take on a challenge where others are not. That shouldn’t be your only qualifier, but it can be a powerful one. “Scalable” is another word that jumps out. Can you envision a solution where you can get to enough scale to have a reasonable impact? Remember that scale is relative—if you are in consumer products, it might mean millions of buyers in an off year, whereas if you are in the business of customizing jets like the 787 Dreamliner, it might mean dozens of buyers in a good year. Regardless of your market’s actual size, “scalable” means you can address enough of it with your solution for it to matter.
Coming back to GHX, the company gained momentum in the market during its first decade, working through startup mode to stabilize itself and grow. In the process, it built up its ability to discover new edges of disruption that leveraged its unique capabilities, including its aptitude for standing in the center of a complex and often contentious environment, between competitors, providers, suppliers, distributors, and others. The team learned to see its inherent neutrality not as a limiter but as a distinguisher in terms of problems it is uniquely able to solve. As it solved for and scaled the first edge of disruption it was charted to deliver, the ability to have e-commerce between suppliers and providers, they quickly moved on to more ambitious edges. And as we mentioned earlier, GHX more recently has taken on leading the industry in defining the solution for documenting implantables used in patient care. We’ll be getting deeper into that, together with advances it has made in tracking pharmaceuticals, in Chapter 2, “Learn.” Given how often the company has done it, defining new edges of disruption is almost a core competency of GHX!
In any edge of disruption it defines, GHX looks for the challenge that matters most to the suppliers and providers that use the exchange, and to the broader population—including you as a potential patient. You might be wondering how all of this work on electronic data interchange could be relevant to you. Isn’t it really just about suppliers getting paid faster and providers getting more accurate billing? What does it have to do with patient outcomes or your experience at the doctor?
Consider this. Imagine you are at the doctor’s office, and you have a latex allergy. With interoperable systems sharing accurate data about product descriptions, it is possible for your electronic medical record to be matched to the inventory being used for your doctor’s visit. This could help ensure that the nurse setting up the tray is flagged to pull the right latex-free gloves from inventory and confirm that they are being used during all aspects of your treatment. Without accurate supply data, your risk of coming in contact with latex is exponentially higher. Clearly, the work that GHX and others in the supply chain do influences not just the flow of money but also the quality of care patients receive. Because of GHX’s ability to scale solutions to inventory problems, the edges of disruption it tackles deliver against all of the Triple Aim goals, not just cost containment.
Developing an elevated perspective about the right edge of disruption is critical to success. In a space where trust between industry participants was a major barrier, GHX had to learn to navigate among its competitors, customers, and customers’ customers. Through the trust it has earned, the results delivered, and the value created, GHX has been able to anchor itself as a neutral arbitrator of industry solutions that require broad participation and support to deliver. This position enables GHX to drive solutions across the industry for even more complex challenges—the ones that matter more—like the ability to track and trace implantables. That’s a perfect edge of disruption for GHX to address, because the company has unique access to data, people, and the market to challenge industry assumptions, think optimistically about how to solve problems, and ask the yet unanswered questions about crafting a full solution.
You might be thinking that healthcare is so rich in opportunity that it is easy to find a “good” edge of disruption there and run with it—who wouldn’t want to solve for something like tracking implantables? But let’s think about that differently. Step back and consider some of the different edges of disruption available in healthcare. Consider for a moment that it is unlikely that GHX or its clients would benefit from GHX developing, for instance, a nuanced and in-depth perspective on the cost of medical education that synthesized all of the current issues in a credentialed and meaningful way. Could GHX do that? Probably. There are a lot of smart people working there who could direct attention to it. Would GHX working on this issue drive significant outcomes in terms of positive change in solving the problem, or in advancing the GHX core strategy, or that of its customers? Unlikely. Is GHX uniquely placed to have a meaningful and sustainable position on the issues surrounding the cost of medical education? No. Would a perspective on medical education help GHX get into the right conversation with its clients about how to positively impact the Triple Aim goals? Probably not. While there are plenty of disruptions happening in the medical education space, it is not the best edge of disruption for GHX to explore—it might be someone else’s, but it likely isn’t for GHX. Being selective about your edge of disruption is critical—remember Bruce’s criteria of unique and scalable for GHX. As you look for the right edge of disruption, being able to say “no” is critical, and is a skill we will revisit in several of our case studies.
Defining your edge of disruption is about looking toward the future, determining where your capabilities and credibility uniquely position you to take advantage of the wide array of changes you see there, and developing a unique perspective about the disruption these changes will bring. You then use that perspective to drive meaningful insight for the people you need to influence the most.
Likewise for you, there are many problems in the world to solve, and many exciting new opportunities and spaces to explore, but you need to be selective in defining your edge of disruption. Defining your edge of disruption is about looking toward the future, determining where your capabilities and credibility uniquely position you to take advantage of the wide array of changes you see there, and developing a unique perspective about the disruption these changes will bring. You then use that perspective to drive meaningful insight for the people you need to influence the most.
Let’s think about where you might find your own edge of disruption. To be clear, we are not suggesting that with an elevated perspective, you need to be an expert on all areas of your business and that of your customers. We are, however, suggesting that you need to figure out the edge of disruption that is most likely to matter to your customers—where you can add the most value, and about which you have the most to say—and go there. Everyone has a different edge of disruption, depending on interest, industry, competition, customer base, strategic goals, and market position, so figuring out yours is critical.
As you work on defining your edge, you will need to take a hard look at what’s going on around you. It might feel unsettling, or even scary, but it is a critical step to becoming the obvious choice. Places to look for your edge of disruption include the contracting process (especially if you are in a business-to-business model; we’re going to share an example of how that can yield amazing outcomes), customer experience, product positioning, technology, customer relationship, service models, internal data and information, areas where legislation is looming, changes in adjacent industries, and other parts of the value chain. We believe that wherever you go to find your edge of disruption, it should ultimately generate market-facing value. It must have an impact on your customers, and if appropriate, your customers’ customers. For GHX, its leaders look for edges of disruption where they can advance all three Triple Aim goals and uniquely deliver scalable solutions to their customers in ways that matter. So yes, healthcare has plenty of complexities to explore, but they aren’t all good opportunities for every player in the industry. And even industries that seem more mundane and less complicated have pushed out onto edges of disruption to challenge norms and create new products, markets, and ways of working.
As you start to think about defining your own edge of disruption, let’s consider an example that everyone has experienced— grocery shopping. In 1916, grocery shoppers typically made a list, brought it to the store, and handed