Individualism Is Good Business.

There are many areas of economic activity where we seem to have lost sight of the purpose of improving individual lives because we’re immersed in the math of averages and total populations and their data. The human being – the customer – is sometimes out of sight to these statistical analyses.

One such field is health care. It’s a forest of collectivism where we can’t see the trees. We have corporate healthcare programs designed as coverage for all employees, and Medicare and other government programs for populations not covered by employer plans. We have hospital systems and insurance systems and HMOs and PPOs and networks from which we’re instructed not to stray. Pharmaceutical companies are focused on drugs that can be dispensed to millions of patients, and they assess effectiveness via percentages rather than individual cases. 

There’s an economic distortion of major proportions and significant impact: the price signals that moderate markets to align supply with demand are obliterated because individual buyers are not making purchases on the basis of their willingness to pay. They are not choosing between suppliers for each individual purchase and making dynamic comparisons of relative value. They are not free to apply their evaluations of their experience by switching to alternatives in an unhampered market when they are not fully satisfied. The market isn’t allowed to work.

Another way in which individuals get lost is in cases of one-size-fits-all all treatments. You know the standard: if you’re diabetic, take insulin. High cholesterol? Take a statin. There are endless rivers of data to support these patterned treatments, but distressingly little customization or personalization to individual histories, circumstances, and dispositions. It’s not that personalization doesn’t exist in doctor-patient relationships, but that the overall system is geared towards averages and optima rather than to singular analytics and singular treatments for singular cases.

There’s a company that’s dedicated to reversing the trend towards medical collectivism and reinvigorating personalized medicine in a way that can operate within the current framework of corporate healthcare plans and regulated availability of treatment regimens. Curally brings an economic solution to individuals’ needs – the essence of entrepreneurship. It’s a service to corporate clients to improve the productivity and health of an employee population, by identifying and focusing on the individuals within the corporate context who need the most care. Curally identifies high-risk individuals who are suffering from chronic conditions or major cases, where extra attention and support can make the biggest difference. Applying the economic principles of individual exchange and value at the margin, Curally brings individualism to bear to help the whole population by helping those most in need, thereby raising team performance and team outcomes.

Curally’s particular solution is highly innovative: nurse-led coaching. Nurse-led care coaching is a relationship-driven approach to health led by experienced nurses and medical professionals. Curally partners with companies to provide employees with the support they need to achieve transformational health results, from chronic conditions and major health problems. Curally’s nurses work one-on-one with individuals to create personalized health plans, coordinate care with doctors, and offer advice and motivation every step of the way. 

This is individualism with collaboration, empathy, and compassion. Everyone can do more when there’s someone helping alongside us. Individualism is not the hard, cold anti-social approach it’s depicted to be. It’s the caring recognition that each individual is different, that all value is subjective, and that customized and personalized attention is the better route to value than the mathematically optimized efficient large-scale system. Individualism is good business.