Will one of America's most innovative companies be able to disrupt healthcare?
Earlier this week, Reuters broke the news of Salesforce.com's plans to enter the healthcare industry. The cloud-based CRM juggernaut has set its sights quite high — to the tune of $1 billion in annual revenue from healthcare clients.
If the company is successful in pulling in $1 billion in healthcare revenue, healthcare will makeup one-fifth of total company revenue, according to the Reuters report.
Salesforce.com already counts UCSF Medical Center and Blue Cross of California as customers, said Reuters' sources.
And in June, Salesforce.com and Philips partnered to create a data-sharing platform and apps to aid providers and patients in care coordination. Two of the first apps to be launched on the platform, Philips eCareCoordinator and Philips eCareCompanion, will aid remote monitoring for patients with chronic conditions.
Salesforce.com isn't expected to release official word on its plans for the industry until November, but the rumblings of a large-scale move into healthcare by one of America's 40 most innovative companies could mean big changes for the health IT competitive landscape.
Salesforce.com has conquered the world of CRM. And while CRM is related to health management, care coordination and patient engagement, keeping a patient healthy is a lot different than turning leads into customers. The question on the minds of those who understand the force that is Salesforce.com and the challenges that characterize the healthcare industry goes something like this: Is this 800-lb CRM gorilla good enough, and does it understand the nature of healthcare well enough, to become the dominant provider of care management solutions?