可编程世界成定局，商家面临生死抉择

    让我们先聚焦其中一个行业：医疗卫生业。这是一个在很大程度上与互联网时代脱节的行业。由于大量的政府管制，它所采用的信息技术早已过时。正是在这些地方，API能帮助这个行业用上更为先进的医疗技术。

    比如CareCloud（这是我们投资的另一个项目）就能充当医生、病人、病历库、化验室和其他主要医疗卫生利益相关者之间的数字联系桥梁。CareCloud的自动化进程能简化办公流程，削减间接管理费用，同时改善对病人的治疗。

    有一个应用能让病人在医院下班时间更改就诊预约，重新选择时间。另一个应用能让医生第一时间知道病人已经到达化验室准备检查了；化验刚做好它就能让病人知道结果，并自动将结果填到表格里去，同时还能通过手机提醒病人进行复诊预约。病人甚至还能让这类服务的供应商把病历存到自己的Box账户中去。

    有了这种自动化工具，医生可以更快结束自己的临床工作流程，病人也能更好地了解自己的健康信息。我们不妨把它和传统的基于纸张的流程做个比较。那时候案头工作往往堆积成山，病人要跟踪了解自己的健康信息也要花更多时间。

    借助API，医疗设备也更加智能。比如OrthoSensor这家公司，它制造的传感器能持续监控整形移植物的情况，一旦发生问题就能立即远程报告。这些信息能实时传送给医生和其他专业医疗人员，从而改善术后护理，便于及早介入治疗，并有助于实现更有针对性的康复。

    关注平台，而非产品

    我们这个地球正在快速变成一个可编程的世界。到2025年，地球上将有25万亿台相互连接的设备。它们能和智能手机互通信息，也能彼此沟通。这就为整个信息技术产业带来了一个巨大的机遇，有望创建一个数字生态系统。

    它同样对各个企业也提出了新的要求，因为它们能否存活下去就要全靠数字战略了。各行各业都必须让各种应用成为自己业务的核心，并运用它们来满足客户的真实需求。各种消费者应用已让人们的期望值水涨船高，有鉴于此，如果还抱着老一套的产品战略，注定要一败涂地。

    正像当年的互联网革命席卷一切一样，企业现在必须学会拥抱这个可编程的世界——否则就将无路可走。

    本文作者普罗莫德•汉克是西北风险投资公司的高级合伙人。本文最初发表于NVP博客。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远  

    Let's focus on one: Healthcare, a largely disconnected industry with outdated information technology that is struggling with a huge government-mandated disruption. Here, APIs are enabling more advanced healthcare technologies.

    For example, CareCloud (another one of ours), which serves as the digital connective tissue between physicians, patients, medical records depositories, labs and other key healthcare stakeholders. CareCloud's automation streamlines office processes, reducing administrative overhead while improving patient care.

    One app lets patients change their appointment after-hours and select an alternative slot. Other apps let your doctor know in real time that you showed up at a lab for your prescribed test; display the results as soon as the test is done; auto-populate them into your chart; and alert you via your mobile phone to schedule a follow-up appointment with your doctor. You can even have your provider store your medical records in your own Box account.

    With such automation, doctors can close the clinical loops of their workflow much more quickly, and patients are more connected to their health information. Compare this to traditional paper-based processes, where work piles up, and customers spend far too much time tracking down their health information.

    APIs are also enabling more intelligent medical devices. For example, OrthoSensor makes sensors that constantly monitor the performance of orthopedic implants and report remotely on any problems. This information, which can be passed on in real time to doctors and other healthcare professionals, improves post-operative care, enables earlier intervention and facilitates more targeted rehabilitation.

    Platforms, not products

    We are rapidly becoming a programmable world. By 2025, the earth will contain more than 25 trillion connected devices that can communicate with smartphones and each other. This creates a major opportunity for entire industries to build digital ecosystems.

    It is also a mandate for individual businesses, because their very survival now depends on a digital strategy. Businesses must make apps central to their operations, and use them to solve real customer needs. Consumer apps have heightened human expectations, and playing the old product game is a recipe for failure.

    As with the Internet revolution, businesses must embrace the programmable world -- or die.

    Promod Haque (@promodhaque) is a senior managing partner with Norwest Venture Partners (NVP). This post originally appeared on the NVP blog.