Disruptive Idiots From Silicon Valley

By SAURABH JHA, MD Recently, I was dining with elite radiologists. In that uncomfortable silence between dessert and the check, I said “radiology must shift the traditional paradigm by creating value streams using disruptive innovation to leverage population health to build strong ecosystems and a robust ectoplasm.” I was experimenting if excreted verbiage hastens the check. Instead, it sparked a vigorous conversation about disruptive innovation, compelling me to drink more cognac. In healthcare, no two words have been as mercilessly cheapened by overuse as “disruptive innovation.” This is a shame. Disruption is serious scholarship by Clayton Christenson who studies the diffusion of technology. Christenson astutely observed that when the technology (disrupter) which renders its predecessor obsolete arrives, it is cheaper and (usually) of lower quality. It is by virtue of its lower quality it can be cheaper, and by virtue of its low cost it appeals to a neglected segment of the market. Disrupters appeal to our moral sense of social justice. A start-up brings a giant corporation to its knees -how cool is that? It’s like David taking on Goliath (with a little help from venture capitalists). Disruptive Innovation is a historical analysis. History is analyzed when the dust has settled and the facts have emerged. This sort of analysis concludes that if people hadn’t overreacted to a random Archduke being shot by a social misfit, World War One might not have happened...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: THCB Source Type: blogs