5 minute read
Back to the future?
Jason Helgerson, Founder and CEO of Helgerson Solutions, believes the pandemic will ultimately prove a catalyst for home healthcare
In the 1985 hit science fiction movie – Back to the Future – a high school student played by Michael J. Fox utilised advanced technology to travel back in time. You may ask what possible link there may be between that movie and global healthcare post-pandemic? My answer is, that like the movie, we will utilise technology to go back in time to the era in which healthcare came to us - in our homes - and this change will be far more impactful than many believe.
Until roughly the 1950s, healthcare was commonly provided at home. Doctors regularly visited patients, and we only used hospitals and even clinics in extreme circumstances. As technology advanced and doctors could no longer fit the new tools of their trade in their bags, it became necessary for patients to travel to healthcare.
The transition to a world in which healthcare requires patient travel has profoundly impacted how these vital services are provided. Beyond just patient inconvenience, this change has led to a massive shift in the relative power dynamic between patients and providers. As a result, providers are at the centre of the healthcare delivery system in almost any country you look at. Practically all aspects – from office hours to service locations, even to how and by whom services are provided – are built around the needs of providers. Patients are simply expected to adjust and comply.
As healthcare policy analyst and commentator Roy Lilley recently said when I interviewed him for the podcast Health 2049, a patient’s time is considered worthless. As a result, the overall experience most of us have when it comes to consuming healthcare services is inconvenient at best and de-humanising
at worst. We are almost always asked to wait, and when we do get to see someone, the visit is frequently brief, and the person opposite us is harried.
My description of the present state should in no way be seen as an effort to disparage healthcare providers. Many, if not most, are equally unhappy with the current situation because they are forced to operate within a financial model that runs them ragged every day. Most didn’t spend years getting advanced degrees to work on a treadmill every day, in which they are expected to do more and more every single day. The current system is leading to provider burnout at a record pace in countries around the world. While the provider may be the system’s centre, those on the frontlines aren’t very happy with how that system works for them or their patients.
Jason Helgerson Founder Helgerson Solutions
Putting the patient at the heart of healthcare
I am an optimist by nature. That optimism leads me to believe that post-pandemic, we will quickly move to a brave new healthcare world in which patients are once again the centre of the universe and providers can meet patient needs in a rewarding and sustainable manner. The key to this revolutionary change will be technology that will allow people to be served from the comfort of their homes, either by fellow humans or increasingly by machines.
The pandemic has taught us a tremendous amount about how much can be done from the comfort of home. Lockdowns forced us to work virtually in almost every industry. We learnt that we can be highly productive in this virtual world, with many businesses operating today as ‘virtual first’ or ‘hybrid’ companies. Healthcare has been no different with a global explosion in virtual visits. All of this happened practically overnight with no new technology other than a Zoom subscription.
Specifically, in healthcare, the transition has been amazing. Virtual visits have been available for years but rarely used. Providers were never willing to integrate them, and patients didn’t often know they might be an option. While some companies were in the vanguard by offering virtual care to patients, the overall utilisation remained stubbornly low. The pandemic changed all that with lightning speed.
My belief is that consumers will prefer to get as many services as possible from their homes and will not want to go back to waiting for services. Additional technology will be deployed which will make it easier for providers to serve those in their homes. Virtual care will be more efficient for both providers and patients, making it more attractive to both. This fact will drive both supply and demand.
The Holy Grail of care-on-demand
I also believe that in the not-too-distant future, machines – powered by Artificial Intelligence – will begin to replace humans in providing some healthcare services. This advancement will make it possible to offer many patients 24/7 access to ‘care-on-demand.’ Long waits will become a distant memory. While machines will never replace all providers, it will become the default for many services, such as diagnostics, radiology and even chronic care management. This change will help providers because it will allow them to transform how they practice, because they will have more time to spend with the patients who need them most.
The changes I describe will profoundly change the relationship between providers and patients. Providers will no longer be expected to be supercomputers with instant recall who can diagnose even the rarest conditions with limited information at the drop of a hat. Patients will have access to accurate information about their health care status and treatment options informed by their own health care information, not a few random Google searches. Technology will level the playing field between providers and patients, profoundly impacting how services are provided and how needs are met.
Back to the Future in global healthcare will mean that more and more care will be provided to people in their homes in better and more convenient ways. Fortunately, to get to the better days ahead won’t require a time machine but rather a smartphone and internet access. I, for one, look forward to those days.
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