Skip to main content

Innovation Inc: The telemedicine push and how the digital era will impact businesses and consumers

The digital era is officially here. And companies that haven't begun investing in their own tech overhauls are already behind.  It's not a groundbreaking thought: Almost any expert you talked to over the past few months would have likely shared the same conclusion. But it still bears repeating, because the digital push will have major ramifications for consumers and businesses alike.   It can be easy to miss as the world is overcome by a virus that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and a historic civil rights movement that is forcing society to grapple with decades of systemic racism. But the transformation is already happening before our eyes.  For example, many of the physical interactions we had been so accustomed to are now rapidly being replaced by technology that, until this point, had struggled to reach mass adoption.  Take Boston Scientific, a 41-year-old medical device manufacturer. Like other healthcare companies, it had to pivot nearly overnight to address the surge of interest in telemedicine.  Prior to the outbreak, many patients, doctors, and insurers still viewed telemedicine with skeptical eyes. Now, Boston Scientific's chief digital health officer thinks it could replace up to 80% of the nearly 884 million in-person physician visits each year.  And the company is quickly changing its focus to prepare for that. An augmented-reality-powered application, for example, can superimpose an expert's hand over a user's real-world view to help them set-up new products or even oversee the insertion of devices like pacemakers and catheters.   That's just one example of the many to come as emerging technology like automation, AR, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence provide a path forward for companies and customers alike to adapt to the "new normal."  Below are a few other stories from around the newsroom that highlight society's ongoing digital transformation.  And as always: If you're interested in receiving this biweekly newsletter and other updates from our ongoing Innovation Inc. series, please be sure to sign up here:  * Microsoft is offering free online courses for job seekers to develop new skills and land roles in growing industries like tech and finance * How a federally funded lab and a biotech startup are combining AI and supercomputing to find a coronavirus treatment — and why the partnership hints at the future of drug development * How Intuit's QuickBooks is using big data to help small businesses that are 'fighting for survival' during the coronavirus crisis * How real-estate giant Douglas Elliman's Eklund Gomes Team started beta testing the perfect digital tool for the coronavirus era a month before the pandemic hit SEE ALSO: Siemens and Salesforce are teaming up to try to bring employees back to the office safely. Here's what top execs from each tech firm expect for the future of the workplace. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Inside London during COVID-19 lockdown
https://bit.ly/31PH52t

Popular posts from this blog

SpaceX has a 'go' from NASA to return 2 astronauts to Earth on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias threatens several Florida splashdown locations

* NASA on Saturday gave SpaceX a "go" to undock the company's first crewed space mission, called Demo-2, and land it on Sunday evening. * Hurricane Isaias complicated original plans to return two astronauts to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship in the Atlantic Ocean. * Elon Musk's aerospace company may now try to splash down NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the Gulf of Mexico. * Two out of seven total landing sites near Florida must have good weather conditions, and NASA has until about 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to call off the undocking. * Should the weather worsen, NASA and SpaceX can try again a day later or some other date over the next two months. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a "go" to return to Earth this weekend and wrap up an historic space mission for both NASA and SpaceX.  Behnken and Hurley launched to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehic...

What an independent contractor actually is and how it's classified under California's Assembly Bill 5, the gig worker law Uber, Lyft, and others are fighting with a November ballot measure

* California's Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect in January, adopting a narrow definition of independent contractor that forces Uber and other gig economy businesses to choose between reclassifying workers as employees or risking significant liability for misclassification. * The law serves as a reminder to California businesses to be careful when classifying workers as contractors.  * Classifying independent contractors falls into two main categories: the "right to control" test (often called the "IRS test") and the tougher "ABC test" recently adopted in AB5. * Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have recently poured $30 million into Proposition 22 — a ballot measure intended to exempt major ridesharing and food delivery companies from AB5. If California residents vote the measure into effect in November, Uber and Lyft can continue classifying drivers as contractors.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In September 2019, Californ...

PayPal parts with top advertising executive after shifting its marketing strategy during the pandemic

* PayPal's chief creative officer Steve Simpson, its top advertising executive, left the company after about a year. * The move came after PayPal shifted its marketing strategy during the coronavirus pandemic, placing less emphasis on the brand and more on catering to small businesses, said a source with direct knowledge of the marketing operation. * Simpson's departure followed that of CMO and former Apple executive Allison Johnson in May. Both "decided to leave PayPal" as the company streamlines its global marketing functions, according to a PayPal spokeswoman. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. PayPal's highest-ranking ad executive Steve Simpson left earlier this month after just over a year as part of a restructuring of its global marketing business. Simpson, who was chief creative officer, was hired to make high-minded ad campaigns to help PayPal stand out from competitors like Square, Stripe, and Apple Pay. But this strategy chan...