What sickcare can learn from BK

Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons are getting new drive-thrus to boost sales in the coronavirus age. It's time for sickcare USA to take a page from their playbook.

Since the pandemic, fast-food customers are more likely to order at the drive-through, fueling the recovery of restaurants that can accommodate them.

As more and more care moves from the hospital to the home, pickup and delivery for sickcare products and services is likewise growing.

If you dreamed of getting essentials and coffee brought to your car at Target, your dream may soon come true. Not only that, but you'll be able to return that shirt that was too small. The retail giant announced these enhancements to its contactless Drive Up service are headed for "select cities this fall." Drive Up lets customers order items online (or within the app) and upon announcing "I'm here" within the app, a Target employee brings your order to your vehicle. The popularity of the service surged throughout the pandemic, and this move signals Target doesn't plan on its demand fading anytime soon.

Fast-food restaurants wrestling with finding workers are turning to a helper named Holly, who is being deployed by a Denver technology company. Her specialty is taking drive-thru orders and she sounds just human enough to do it smoothly while signaling that customers are talking to a robot.

Valyant AI’s conversational artificial intelligence platform, “Holly,” is taking orders at some Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Colorado and four other states. Four of the fast-food restaurants in Colorado are using the technology and 19 more are under contract to add Holly, Valyant AI CEO Rob Carpenter said.

Here are some reasons why you are likely to see a drive-up window at your primary care pharmacy, medical department store, hospital or physician office soon:

1. Online access to services is increasing via digital health technologies
2. Patients increasingly value conveniencecare
3. It's safer than going to a crowded indoor place
4. It could reduce the cost of care
5. It could increase practitioner productivity
6. It would be a place for patient surrogates and family to help get what patients need
7. It would reduce administrivia using state of the art fintech and tracking technologies
8. You won't have to find a place to park
9. It would be a place to get tests done safely
10. It would pay more than flipping burgers and offer an upskilling opportunity for those who need it and an entry position for further career development
11. Retail and grocery outlets with drive-thru capabilities are increasingly offering sickcare products and services

12. DIY medicine is growing

Then. throw in data analytics and artificial intelligence to build voice-recognition software, computer-vision systems, mapping apps and other digital tools.

Here's how to set up a drive through flu shot clinic.

It would be nice, however, if sick care changed their business models as well as their distribution model.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack and Editor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship