Healthcare Is Stuck in a Steampunk Reality

Steampunk is a genre that envisions an alternate world where technology evolved around steam power. Think of spaceships as colossal steam locomotives. Now, take a look at global healthcare—it has developed in a parallel universe, not one powered by steam, but by pennies.

Faced with quantum leaps in medical technology, what do companies do after making bold investments, driven by visionary boards and stakeholders? Instead of pushing innovation directly to those who need it, they triple their spending to be accepted by insurance companies, national health systems, and Krankenkassen. Why? To eventually reach patients for mere cents or nothing at all.

And what about the patients? They have no idea these groundbreaking technologies exist. Even doctors, who might earn less by adopting them, tend to avoid them with precision. Take regenerative and predictive medicine, for example—revolutionary approaches largely ignored because they don’t fit the outdated reimbursement models.

The Future Stuck in Yesterday’s Pricing

The result? We use 30-year-old technologies at yesterday’s prices in today’s future. Innovators, instead of charging patients directly and educating them about these advancements, opt for the path of least resistance—giving it away for free or for pennies.

Would you trust a medical breakthrough introduced like this?

“Try this revolutionary treatment! It’s cheap or even free!”

Compare that to this alternative:

“This is the future of healthcare. It’s expensive, but advanced research comes at a cost.”

Same technology, different timing. The second pitch sounds reassuring and even exclusive. But here we go—cue the age-old debate about privilege in healthcare. Except today, that privilege often amounts to the cost of a vacation.

The Spartan Dilemma: A Reality Check

• 30% of cancer patients are smokers, and between 50% to 80% keep smoking after their diagnosis.
• No reliable statistics exist for obese cancer patients.

Now, ask yourself: How would the Spartan government handle an oncological patient who refuses to quit smoking but still demands treatment?

Would Sparta also turn a blind eye to orthopedic surgeons who continue implanting prosthetics at triple the cost—just because regenerative medicine isn’t yet mainstream? Probably. After all, patients only see doctors too late—when treatment is free. Before that, it’s “out of pocket.”

The Cost of Inaction vs. The Price of Innovation

Why invest in knee regeneration today—restoring it to a 20-year-old state—for the price of a two-week ski trip with the family, when in two years, I can get a free prosthetic when I can no longer walk?

Sure, that prosthetic might fail. Sure, my ski trip will now be limited to sitting in a cabin, drinking myself into oblivion—hardly a blueprint for longevity.

Meanwhile, brilliant, well-funded companies are collapsing—not because their products don’t work, but because they’re delivering the future to a market that has no clue it exists.

It’s Time for a Marketing Revolution

The solution is not just digitalization—it’s a shift in how we position innovation.

If we want to break free from this steampunk healthcare paradox, companies must stop chasing pennies from institutions and start selling breakthroughs directly to informed patients. This isn’t just about profit—it’s about survival.

Who will have the courage to change?

Sergio d’Arpa