Sorry, I’m all vendored up

“Sorry, I’m all vendored up.” A health plan executive told us that at a recent conference. At other plans we hear the formal version: a vendor moratorium.

I understand it. The payor market is small, the vendor field is crowded, and every pilot lands on operating leaders who already have a plan to run.

But look at the pace. Innovation now moves in weeks. The solution you chose a few months ago may already be dated. Wait a few more quarters and your plan is behind the curve, in a business where one good solution can make or break the next quarter, or the year.

I say this as the CEO of Twig Health, and also as a board member of a health plan, so I sit on both sides of the fence. From the board seat, stalling innovation today is an existential risk. This is no longer about innovation. It is about sustainability.

So how does a plan stay open to new ideas without overwhelming operations?
I’m a longtime Apple fan (Twig's solution is modeled in large part on the Genius Bar service architecture). The most innovative companies have long run advanced technology groups, in the spirit of Apple’s legendary ATG: a team separated from the day-to-day operating business, with one job, to test new ideas fast. Most projects fail. A few succeed, and those move into the core business.

Health plans need their own ATG.

A small innovation layer, separate from operations, that is not afraid of new vendors and ideas because it is built to evaluate them, pilot them, and decide.

Everyone wins. Operating teams are relieved of the constant stream of vendor meetings and pilots. The ATG runs many small pilots in parallel and finds the few that will make the next two quarters stellar. Once a pilot proves itself, it moves into operations.

A moratorium protects this quarter. An ATG protects the plan.

Does your plan have one?