INSIgHTS

Scenarios For Healthcare & Life Sciences After Covid-19

What will the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic be for the healthcare system in the next few years? How will the patients’ expectations change? What role will technology play in this transformation? We present a summary of Deloitte’s latest report “The future unmasked. Predicting the future of healthcare and life sciences 2025”.

the new role of patients and a hybrid service provision model �he COVID-19 pandemic will ha�e a long-term impact on the attitude of patients. �ore people will be aware of health risks associated with specific diseases and adopt a proacti�e approach to pre�ention and treatment. ��hile younger social groups will focus on a lifestyle to pre�ent chronic diseases, sil�er society will demand acti�e and healthy aging opportunities. Vaccinations and the use of technology to monitor health will become increasingly important. Local authorities will be more eager to start pre�ention and telemonitoring programs for people from risk groups and chronic diseases (such as diabetes, heart diseases, and cardio�ascular diseases) to increase their quality of life and reduce mortality. Older people will start using smartwatches and other wearables to monitor their heart condition continuously. �ealth and fitness applications, which ha�e been downloaded much more often during the pandemic, will enjoy enduring popularity. �ealthcare in the post-pandemic era will also be more mobile thanks to telehealth consultations and new pro-digital regulations laid down by go�ernments to facilitate access to medical ser�ices. Ongoing access to electronic health records and related health programs in your smartphone will make health issues some of the most critical topics in e�eryday life. A growing number of digital health solutions will force regulatory bodies to create a �alidation system for health apps and portals. ��ith the increasing focus on pre�ention, such solutions will be prescribed or commonly recommended. Digital therapeutics will be an integral part of e�ery drug therapy. �hey will help patients make more informed decisions and enable ser�ice pro�iders to ha�e ongoing rather than just incidental control o�er treatment outcomes. �he leading in�estors in telehealth will be the go�ernments of specific counties and companies offering healthy aging and longe�ity solutions. Solutions that currently help a small group of people, such as smartwatches and fitness bands that monitor health parameters, will become cheaper and more popular. A challenge will be integrating data generated by indi�iduals with health records and using them in big data analytics. �ome �oice assistants will gi�e people tips on how to take care of their health. �obile apps will turn into healthy sleep coaches and digital trainers helping people maintain or achie�e good physical and mental health. Data acquired by such solutions will be integrated into electronic health records (E�R) so that the doctor not only has insight into the medical history but, most importantly, gains the ability to identify health risks in time and diagnose the first symptoms of a disease.

New technologies will affect how clinicians work In 2025, medicine will be predicti�e, pre�enti�e, personalized, and participatory (4P). �he transformation will be accelerated by digital therapeutics and easier access to data, enabled by impro�ing systems and data interoperability. AI algorithms built into I� systems will analyze data stored in E�Rs and help make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. �hey will also generate customized pre�ention pathways for e�ery patient. �edical data in E�Rs will be extended to include a range of additional information, such as the quality of sleep or mental health biomarkers – the priority for mature societies will be to maximize the quality of life and good health. �eleconsultations will be impro�ed due to the possibility of examining the patient with the use of diagnostic features in smartphones. Robotization and automation will lead to more efficient time management and changes in the duties of medical staff. Due to the rapid de�elopment of telemedicine, the quality of health will be related to healthcare professionals’ communication abilities. Digitization will lead to the emergence of new specializations in medicine. Instead of working in offices, doctors will be employed in large telehealth centers or data management centers organized under monitoring programs for patients with chronic diseases. �ew medical de�ices equipped with AI algorithms will emerge, such as a digital stethoscope, which patients will be able to use themsel�es during telehealth appointments. A teleconsultation will be no different in quality than an office �isit.

Patient-centered treatment and prevention will become the standard practice �he de�elopment of digital health technologies—that enable a more efficient flow of data—will lead to establishing a new healthcare model, referred to as “digital-first.” It is expected that due to an increasing demand for health ser�ices, chatbots and AI systems will become the first points of care for patients in order to e�aluate their health. �ealth bots will make the initial diagnosis, monitoring and assessing health data in order to support treatment. �his element will also be a part of a seamless patient pathway. A more significant role of the digital factor will be balanced out by extended support in local communities and the integration of healthcare with social ser�ices. Pharmacists’ medical competencies will increase in the new health ecosystem— pharmacies will introduce new health ser�ices. All healthcare system puzzles – doctors’ offices, pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, and patients’ homes – will be integrated to create continuous care, which will replace the current health model characterized by randomity and limited access to information. Pharmaceutical companies will go beyond manufacturing drugs and include digital therapeutics (D�x) in their business models. Companies from the medical and technological sectors will play a more important role in designing and planning healthcare. �edical apps whose effecti�eness has been confirmed by clinical studies and AI algorithms compliant with the requirements for medical de�ices imposed by regulatory authorities will become more critical. It will be necessary to share data in accordance with interoperability standards, adopt transparent models of data processing in the cloud, and ethically data utilization for secondary purposes. In sustainable healthcare systems, inno�ations will be created in clusters based on cooperation between academic centers, I� companies, patients’ organizations, and clinics. 

To download the full report, please go to https://bit.ly/3xlS1vC.

Deloitte’s report describes ten predictions for 2025 and provides insights into the impact of COVID-19 on industry trends.