Enabling & Accelerating Digital Transformation in Healthcare | Through COVID19 & Beyond

Health care organisations that have embraced digital are already experiencing substantial improvements in quality, speed & effectiveness in their day-to-day work. The COVID-19 crisis has further emphasized the need for a rapid and comprehensive digital transformation of the health care systems, putting digital at the top of their customer strategy. Digital engagement helps keep patients safe and personalizes care.

A quick view on the current Digital maturity stage of healthcare sectors. There is a clear digital divide that appears among the sub-sectors of the health care industry (See Exhibit 2). Medical technology companies are the most digitally mature, which is not surprising given that tech giant such as Apple and Google drive digital disruption. Pharmaceutical companies have yet to pick up on digital disruption capabilities. There is plenty to adopt (replicate ideas) from technology & financial institutions.

Companies like Amazon have already created healthy competition and putting pressure on Health care providers. Similarly, many such digital innovators target parts of the healthcare value chain. For example, Amazon has begun to provide tech-enabled, more cost-effective care for their employees and families with Amazon Care, an online app that provides access to health care services 24-7.

Look, adapting to the digital era requires a shift towards a flexible and risk-taking mindset. Thanks to technology, patients get better treatment with virtual reality tools, wearable medical devices, tele-health, predictive analytics, and mobile technology. Doctors, on the other hand, can streamline their workflows using artificial intelligence-powered systems.

Below six trends Driving Digital Transformation in Healthcare-

1. Rise of On-demand healthcare

The global healthcare industry is undergoing rapid transformation, where healthcare organizations are inherently striving to transform the way they deliver services and are increasingly offering instant access to specialized expertise when needed. In healthcare, immediate fulfillment of requests means immediate treatment of patients, which works wonders for society. In this COVID-19 pandemic situation blessed to have such on-demand healthcare services. Imagine someone suffering from a soaring high fever or severe headache, who can get an instant appointment with a doctor or get telemedicine. Well, it certainly sounds like a blessing in a doomed scenario like this.

Many healthcare companies have increasingly using such on-demand healthcare services platforms to meet the demand. The United States has led the way here, where we already see many such platforms like Teladoc, Heal, HealthTap, American Well, which connect patients with the available physicians and provide virtual consultation, video conferencing technology, on-demand ambulance services, 24/7 access to doctors, assuring constant care, nearby urgent care facility and book appointments with ease. 

2. Treating Patients with Virtual Reality (VR)

The Healthcare industry is one of the leading adopters of VR (virtual reality), including robotic surgery, phobia treatment, surgery simulation, skills training, etc. Many healthcare organizations across the globe have started making use of VR in their operations and have realized its benefits. 

VR is primarily used for Medical Education, as a powerful Diagnostics tool, Treatment of Mental health, phobia, pain, physical fitness, Surgery, and Human Simulation.

Few specialized companies like DeepStream VR, Immersive Touch, Virtually Better, Medical Realities, have done breakthrough innovations in VR.

According to the CDC, 50 million U.S. adults had chronic pain in 2016. For them, VR is a safer, more efficient alternative to drugs. VR technology is being used to treat pain and everything from anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder and stroke.

From start-ups to Pharmaceuticals giants, everyone is betting on VR to leverage its potential. The global virtual and augmented reality in the healthcare market is expected to reach $5.1 billion by 2025. If you’re a part of a healthcare organization and planning your digital marketing strategy, you should highly consider investing in this technology.

3. Big Data Empowering Healthcare

According to PRNewswire states – “Global big data in the healthcare market was valued at over $ 14.7 billion in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 20% to reach $ 42.8 billion by 2024 owing to increasing adoption of Electronic Health Record (EHR), control healthcare spending, advance patient outcomes, etc.”

Big data is accelerating the healthcare transformation clinically and financially. By understanding the trends and the patterns within the data, healthcare systems can improve proactive care and optimize healthcare costs.

The Pharma and Biotech companies are harnessing the power of big data for product cross-selling, financial risk management, regulatory compliance management, and others. Big data analytics in pharmaceutical manufacturing will also help to better forecast production demand, understand the plant’s performance, and provide faster support services to the customers. The best use case of big data are - Track Health Activities, Cost-Effective, Better Patient Care, Minimize Human Errors, Improved Healthcare.

Healthcare organizations are already leveraging the analysis of big data in building accurate models of disease progression, providing personalized medicine, and improved the efficiency of clinical trials.

4. Growth of Wearable Healthcare Devices

Another booming trend in healthcare is companies collecting lots of health data from medical devices, including wearable technology. Wearable technology in healthcare includes electronic devices that consumers can wear, like Apple Watch, Fitbits, and smartwatches, and these wearable devices are designed to collect the data of users' personal health and can send a user's health information to a doctor or other healthcare professional in real-time.

In the digital technology-driven world, patients are focusing on prevention and maintenance and demanding information about their health more frequently. As a result, healthcare companies are proactively investing in wearable technology devices that can provide up-to-date monitoring of high-risk patients to determine the likelihood of health events.

According to a recent report, The global wearable healthcare devices market is projected to reach USD 46.6 billion by 2025 from USD 18.4 billion in 2020.

Few common devices are Heart rate sensors, Exercise trackers, Sweat meters – used for diabetics to monitor blood sugar levels, Oximeters – monitors the amount of oxygen carried in the blood, and is often used by patients with respiratory illnesses such as COPD or asthma.

Benefits from wearable devices: Personalizes Healthcare Experience, Measure health risks, Provides insurance incentives, Provides gamification opportunities

Furthermore, wearable technology saves lots of money for healthcare companies. One study found that health apps and wearables for preventative care could save the U.S. healthcare system close to $7 billion per year.

5.  Predictive Healthcare for Proactive Actions

So far we talked about- how big data can help healthcare companies with predictive analysis about admission rates and help them properly staff their facilities. The other dimension of this analysis is predicting what illnesses and diseases will become major problems in the near future and what could be the probable treatment.

Data aggregated through Big Data and other marketing sources can help healthcare companies develop healthy lifestyle recommendations for their patients.

For example, we can analyze keyword activity across social media channels and on major search engines to determine the most common searches for medical conditions, illnesses, and general health. The data analyst could then develop a predictive model that would anticipate where and when the next big health scare will occur, and how the healthcare system can prepare for the same.

6.  Artificial intelligence for Personalized Patient Engagements

Artificial intelligence (AI) represents the epitome of medical innovation and industry players are eager to invest millions in it. The healthcare AI-powered tools market is expected to exceed $34 billion by 2025, which means this technology will shape almost all facets of the healthcare system.

Healthcare companies already seeing such digital innovation, Robots Nurse like Moxi who helps hospitals run 24/7 by assisting clinical staff with non-patient-facing tasks like running patient supplies, delivering lab samples, fetching items, etc.

Patients are also experiencing AI-based Chatbots and virtual health assistants. Chatbots can fill a multitude of roles from customer service representatives to diagnostic tools and even therapists.

The power of AI can be best seen in areas like precision medicine, medical imaging, drug discovery, and genomics. For instance, cancer patients used to receive cookie-cutter treatments with high failure rates. Now, thanks to AI’s sophisticated pattern recognition, these patients have access to personalized therapies tailored to their genetic makeup and lifestyle.

Leading Pharma and biotech companies are using machine learning algorithms to shorten the drug development cycle. In fact, recent findings show that AI can slash early drug discovery timelines by four years against the industry average, and generate cost savings of 60 percent.

7. Simplifying Medical Records (EHR) Through Blockchain

In healthcare, blockchain is proven to be an effective tool in preventing data breaches, improving the accuracy of medical records, and cost optimization. Furthermore, it provides an optimal solution for the problem of fragmented medical records.

The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are already vouching for its efficiency by investing millions in this market. According to a recent report, blockchain in the healthcare market is expected to reach $890.5 million by 2023.

The Bottom-line

The healthcare industry is gearing for the next normal. The above trends just provide a glimpse of the ever-evolving world of healthcare. The countries and organizations that are embracing digital technologies in healthcare will see the edge over competition sooner, as patients continue to demand better, quicker, and more efficient service for their growing needs. Digital technology is set to change the face of the healthcare industry by reducing costs associated with medications, treatments, and more accessible healthcare facilities. 

The latest digital transformations in healthcare look quite promising.

Forward, Upward, Onwards!