W H AT ’ S YO U R O P I N I O N ?
Digital health 2020 We asked digital health leaders what trends will dominate medical technologies in 2020. Perspectives of John Sharp (Thought Advisory at the Personal Connected Health Alliance), Koen Kas Healthcare (Futurist and CEO/Founder of the Healthskouts), and Lionel Reichardt known as Pharmageek (expert in the digital transformation of the pharma industry), Denise Silber (Founder of the Doctors 2.0 & You), and Professor Shafi Ahmed (surgeon, futurist, and innovator). John Sharp Director and Thought Advisory at the Personal Connected Health Alliance
Digital Health Trends in 2020 will include many patient-facing innovations.
John Sharp, among many others, is an adjunct faculty at the Kent State University (Health Informatics Program) and a member of the International Editorial Board at the ICT&Health International.
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Existing trends, which are at the pilot phase, will begin to scale. For instance, virtual reality for pain control now has enough evidence to be recommended as an alternative for many pain control treatments. It could become a first-line treatment and alternative to opioids in some cases. Digital health treatments, which are already scaling – such as managing and prevention of chronic conditions like Type 2 Diabetes – will continue to gain acceptance among employers, insurers, and perhaps even some government programs, and thus become broadly available. These virtual coaching apps will broaden their scope to many chronic conditions. For example, COPD, asthma, hypertension, and heart disease, especially as value-based care begins to have an impact. Remote patient monitoring will also begin to scale in these value-based programs as a method to monitor chronic conditions on a daily or continuous basis, and as the data can be summarized in a dashboard for providers and patients. Telehealth visits will become more widely adopted both for one-off consultations but also for more continuous contact for patients with their healthcare providers. Also, better quality standards will be created and applied for telehealth visits. Finally, patients will generally be more involved in their care. They will also take a more active role in digital health projects, including becoming active consumers, participating on advisory boards, and the growth of co-design.
Koen Kas Healthcare Futurist and CEO/Founder of the Healthskouts
I won’t make a classical list of trends like AI, 5G, VR, and so on. It is the list from me, and my team’s experience working
Koen Kas has published two books. „Sick no more” describes how we will transition from reactive sick-care to pro-active healthcare. „Your guide to Delight” is a roadmap towards Creating health, dealing with change, introducing our personal Digital Twin.
