Table of Contents Introduction 2 Findings 2 Analysis 4 Recommendations 5 Conclusion 5 Reference list 6 Introduction The report focuses on an analysis of the case study of American Well, a health insurance company, and suggests specific strategic measures that can be adopted to have an effective business output. A number of strategic models such PESTEL analysis and Porter's five forces model have been used to identify the existing challenges. Findings PESTEL analysis P Political • Unapproved from political aspect • Presence of a very good environment for trading and business • Political support for health care development is maximum E Economic • Huge funding is required for expanding the coverage • Support from health insurance companies are required to finance the e-business • Public financial condition have deteriorated to some extent • Unemployment is also seen among some sections of the society S Social • The uneducated people are unable to use this telecommunication facility • Most people do not accept such digital form of health care and prefer face to face consultation with the doctor • Some people do not have proper access to such digital form of health care T Technological • Technical breakdown can hinder the communication process • In absence of such digital equipments, patients are not able to communicate to the doctors E Environmental • Being a storm prone area, severe storms cause total loss of communication L Legal • According to Rosemann, & vom Brocke (2015), the legal policies related to use of ICT affects the flow of the business • The company needs to ensure privacy of the patient’s information Porter’s Five forces analysis According to Anton, R. (2015), this model has the following phases of analysis. Bargaining Power of suppliers- High ● According to E. Dobbs (2014), limited Number of supplier who provides quality services Threat of Substitutes- Low ● The substitutes are of an inferior quality ● The substitutes are lesser known ● As opined by Tanwar (2013), the substitutes are very limited. Bargaining Power of Buyers- Medium ● The offered service by American Well is of utmost importance to the end users ● The service is highly customized too, ensuring greater dependency from the customer end ● High switching cost Threat of New Entrants- Medium ● Setting up a new firm providing telehealth services requires ample finance ● Continuous access to superior technology is another crucial requirement which restricts the entry of new firms into this emerging industry Industry Rivalry- High ● The telehealth industry is among the fastest growing industries in the UK ● There are rapidly growing competitors at the local, national, and global levels ● Possible competitors are TelaDoc, CiscoTelepresence Core competencies The core competencies of the concerned company are the essential factors for the development of the company. Figure 1: Core competencies (Source: Created by the researcher) Analysis The PESTEL analysis of the American Well company gives a vivid picture of its benefits and the presence of possible barriers that has to be overcome in order to develope the business and improve the health care services provided to the users. The use of internet and digitalization have made the business much more accessible. However, the company should also be aware of the policies relating to the breach of personal information of the patients. Moreover, such type of video conferencing method of health treatment requires the attention and acceptance of the society. People still rely mostly on the physical examinations and face to face consultations from the medical professionals. Some people are not free to use this telecommunication form of health care because they do not find it much reliable. The porter’s five forces analysis has highlighted some of the possible driving forces that can affect the growth of the company. The field of telecommunication in the US has become highly competitive that can have a negative impact on the company. The introduction of superior technologies needs huge financial backups. As opined by Hines (2014), Core competencies model helps to draw out the major factors that affect the proper working of the company. The treatments and medications recommended by the physicians should have effective improvement in the health of the patients. This is possible if they have sound knowledge of their profession. This will attract more users to have their treatment courses through telecommunication mode of conduct offered by American Well. Secondly, the availability of the digital means has enabled them to have a use of it to expand their business as well as make patient-doctor communication easier. Though it is a telehealth company, it provides service to the people 24 hours. Such accessibility of service range has enabled to develop the business. It is also a user-friendly health care service provider that aims at meeting the requirements of the people. Recommendations There are many challenges that American Well needs to overcome to expand its business structure. It should focus on the relationship of patient and service provider in terms of user-friendly means of service. The service providers should properly analyze the requirement of the users and connect them to the concerned medical professionals in order to provide them the best service. Moreover, minimum delay time should be taken to approach the concerned medical or health care professionals as the patient might be in emergency condition. As opined by Indiatsy et al. (2014), there is an increased competition in terms of telecommunication in the US. In order to overcome this situation, American Well should adopt Differentiation Focus model from Porter's Generic Strategies. On the basis of this model, American Well should aim at focusing on its chosen group of customers and provide them the best service provided to maintain their customer count. The company needs to provide a wide range of health care facilities to this chosen group of customers so they remain seeking service from this company. Conclusion American Well should follow the following recommendations to over the existing challenges in providing health care service to the people. It needs to expand their service range and adopt strategies to have an effective delivery of service. Moreover, it should also follow the governmental policies and guidelines to maintain the social and ethical aspects in their business. Reference list Books Hines, T. (2014). Supply chain strategies: demand driven and customer focused. Routledge. Journals E. Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32-45. Indiatsy, C. M., Mwangi, M. S., Mandere, E. N., Bichanga, J. M., & George, G. E. (2014). The Application of Porter’s Five Forces Model on Organization Performance: A Case of Cooperative Bank of Kenya Ltd. European Journal of Business and Management, 6(16), 75-85. Rosemann, M., & vom Brocke, J. (2015). The six core elements of business process management. In Handbook on business process management 1 (pp. 105-122). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Tanwar, R. (2013). Porter’s generic competitive strategies. Journal of Business and Management, 15(1), 11-17. Online article Anton, R. (2015). An Integrated Strategy Framework (ISF) for Combining Porter's 5-Forces, Diamond, PESTEL, and SWOT Analysis.