The importance of strategic partnerships
The healthcare system is in a phase of transition – from planned economy to free market economy. Competition is becoming a challenge. Only entrepreneurs and enterprises that develop creative strategies will stay on top – or make it to the top.
Harald W Bachleitner
Although the healthcare market may not be a loud and noisy one, it nonetheless deserves close attention as more and more information about medical services is available on the internet or in quality reports.
Patients have an increasingly clear idea about their interests and know how to look after their own interests. They spend a lot of time and energy on finding the right partner for their particular health issues.
Oversupply leads to competition for the client – the patient.
Incomes stagnate and require cost-saving measures such as product standardisation.
The competition and the market are rather problematic: Services offered are difficult to compare; the service providers offer no clearly differentiated products and prices bear little relation to quality; volumes and product ranges are strictly regulated; approvals and in general tight state regulations are market barriers that are difficult to overcome.
In many countries, healthcare is the biggest industry – as well as among the few that are growing! This means healthcare is a highly dynamic market.
The current situation nevertheless has enormous potential for service providers that manage to sharpen their profiles on this dynamic market by offering products with unique selling points or at least points that differentiate their products from those of other companies.
Strategic partnerships are long-term co-operations between owners of complementary know-how and joint corporate objectives – both factors ensure a level of quality that cannot be reached by one of the partners alone and they offer optimised cost efficiency. Moreover, strategic partnerships enable the parties to enter into large projects and they open perspectives and create visions.
In the high-tech medical technology sector strategic partnerships help to secure funding to cover increasing investment costs. If, for example, manufacturers of CT or MRI equipment offer their customers – i.e. the users – provision of the required know-how to operate their equipment, implementation and operating costs remain affordable. Consequently, the use of the equipment is efficient in the long run.
Furthermore, the manufacturers’ corporate co-responsibility ensures product development that is based on actual need in the field.
The result is a win-win situation for all players: the patient receives verifiable quality and profits from the realisation of technological potential. The user also realises his potential and at the same time minimises risks; he incurs less implementation and operating costs, increases customer loyalty, number of cases, efficiency and employee satisfaction. Additionally, the manufacturer has satisfied customers and generates demand by offering his customers an added-value.
In short: A strategic partnership gives you an edge over the competition. It’s worth the effort!
CV: Harald W Bachleitner studied law at Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, and for the bar at Zweite Juristische Staatsprüfung. Further training included Public Management as well as studies to qualify as an assessor, at the European Foundation for Quality.
After a period as a civil servant for the city of Munich, he joined the München-Schwabing Hospital, first as Deputy Administrative Director and Head of Finances, then rising to become the hospital’s Administrative Director.
In 2005 he was appointed Managing Director of SRH Zentralklinikum Suhl gGmbH and, in 2007, became a healthcare consultant and Managing Director of bachleitner contract Gmbh and Bachleitner Beteiligungs GmbH.
In January this year, he was appointed Managing Director of Initiative Gesundheitswirtschaft, Berlin.
This article was published on 03/01/2008