HEALTHCARE TRENDS
Consumer-driven & patient-focused innovations in the healthcare industry Charu Sehgal, Partner, Healthcare and Lifesciences Leader, Deloitte India explains that till a few years ago disease was presumed to be inevitable, and the focus was on how best to cure it or in most cases, keep it under control. This has now changed, and the focus has shifted to prevention and wellness, led largely by the younger generation
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hile the healthcare industry has seen many advances over the past few decades, the most significant change that we have witnessed with respect to healthcare delivery from a customer perspective is that patients moved from being passive recipients of diagnosis and treatment, with very little information, discretion or choice, to being empowered consumers. They now have the information and services that could help validate the diagnosis and even have the option to select doctors and hospitals based on parameters such as service quality, convenience, and cost. This has flipped the dynamics of healthcare delivery and put patients at the center of it. The modern patient demands better services, convenience and health outcomes than ever before. The market was quick to take note of this changed dynamic and both established healthcare and medical technology players have begun developing protocols, products, and solutions to address these needs. An analysis by Forbes shows that healthcare marketplaces that allow patients to search for and book healthcare services online experienced a 3.2x year-over-year funding growth in 2021 in the United States. Similarly, in India we have seen the emergence of several startups which fulfill the same requirements. A recent report by the Deloitte’s Center for Health Solutions estimates that up to 70 per cent of startups in healthcare diagnostics are working on point-of-care diagnostic solutions that allow diagnostic studies to be conducted outside the hospital setting and therefore
While over the years we did see patients and consumers increasingly adopt and use technology, both doctors and patients remained relatively reluctant to accept remote diagnosis and care as a substitute to face-to-face doctor patient meeting and examination aid patients in caring for themselves. In the coming decades, we are likely to see several such point-of-care and DIY diagnostic solutions emerge and gain mainstream adoption. Till a few years ago disease was presumed to be inevitable, and the focus was on how best to cure it or in most cases, keep it under control. This has now
changed, and the focus has shifted to prevention and wellness, led largely by the younger generation. This has led to the usage of patient centric wellness gadgets, mobile applications, and fitness tracking apps becoming ubiquitous. According to the report by Deloitte’s Center for Health Solutions, 46 per cent of healthcare start-ups
in the United States focus on prevention and/or wellness or detection/diagnosis, and only 19 per cent focus on treatment. In 2022, the US FDA approved Apple Watch’s ECG app to track and store a user’s atrial fibrillation history. This is just an indication of the things to come. In a few years from now, we can expect a casual user to be able to obtain medical grade data for things like sleep cycles, reproductive cycles, brain waves, respiratory rhythm, body temperature, stress levels, SpO2, levels etc. through affordable wearable devices. This newfound focus on prevention and wellness has huge implications for resource constrained countries like ours, whose only hope to tackle disease for their growing population is to focus on prevention rather than spend the enormous resources needed for cure. While over the years we did see patients and consumers increasingly adopt and use technology, both doctors and patients remained relatively reluctant to accept remote diagnosis and care as a substitute to face-to-face doctor patient meeting and examination. This changed due to COVID-19 in 2020, when lockdowns and infection risks forced people to opt for remote care. Several reports indicate that users have not only availed increased virtual services during the past two years, but also plan to continue doing so in the future. Both private healthcare providers as well as governments have sought to use these shifts to their advantage and are increasingly leveraging remote care technology to not only enhance their reach to patients but also reduce stress on their
limited healthcare resources. However, you don’t need fancy technology like advanced sensors, artificial intelligence or machine learning to make a difference. There are several easy to implement solutions that can enhance efficiency of care delivery through simple data digitisation. Closer home in India, there are several successful examples of State & National governments effectively deploying mobile apps to enhance patient access to healthcare in resource stressed environments
Conclusion Given that the healthcare industry deals with the lives of people, it has been a highly regulated industry that must follow protocols that have been developed after many years of trials and research. As a result, it has typically been slow and resistant to change. However, it is going to undergo a technology led revolution in the 21st Century. The pandemic has rendered the public, regulators as well as governments to be more amenable and trusting of technological solutions. This is a particularly opportune time for technology led disruption since changes in consumer behavior are coinciding with an acceleration in digital connectivity and the development of enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, sensors, and internet speed. These industry shifts will enhance patient access to healthcare, improve health outcomes and improve patient experience by leaps and bounds. It is critical for healthcare organisations of the 21st century to take note of these changes and prepare for a vastly different future.
EXPRESS HEALTHCARE
21
August 2022
