According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases account for 71 per cent of deaths worldwide. Tens of millions, in developed and developing countries, are suffering from these diseases, that could cost the global economy US$47 trillion by 2030, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has estimated.
Digital transformation in the healthcare sector is seen as one of the ways to make people healthier and reverse this trend of devastating non-communicable diseases and harmful lifestyle choices.
For medical providers, with numerous costs and other burdens, digital healthcare surely is one of the most effective business cases that can be made. Poor health and choices cost money and lives. A population able and proactively making smarter health choices will cost less, live longer, and live healthier lifestyles.
Whether implementing directly or supporting the use of, medical providers can make a huge impact on the use of digital tools, apps, and platforms. Here are five ways to encourage and make the business case for a healthcare digital transformation.
Wearables
An enormously popular, consumer-driven market already exists for wearable products. From Fitbit’s to iPhones that record health stats, millions of people around the world are recording and sharing health data in real-time.
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Where there is a business case to be made for healthcare providers is the value of connecting this into the patient management process. Doctors and medical teams can proscribe drugs, treatments, and lifestyle changes; but until recently, there has been no way of monitoring whether a patient is taking the advice of a medical professional.
Patients told to walk, run, go to the gym, eat less, smoke, and drink less don’t always take that advice, often with negative health impacts and therefore, further costs and strain placed on medical systems and providers.
With the right digital systems in place – and patient consent – doctors could collect lifestyle-data from wearable devices and technology to monitor patients’ progress and make sure they’re taking positive steps (sometimes literally) to improve their health and lifestyle.
This way, medical providers would have a clearer idea who might need more treatment and therefore make it easier to allocate resources, medicines, and other medical courses of action.
All of this comes with a financial impact for medical providers. One way to make that financial impact on patients is that those with wearable devices could take out medical insurance that rewards them for making positive lifestyle choices, thereby providing further incentives.
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Genomics
Human genomes have been mapped. As have millions of species of plants and animals. We have a much clearer understanding of the genome than ever before.
With increased and enormously enhanced computing power – such as machine learning and AI – we are getting closer to being able to modify and defeat diseases at a genetic level, preventing them from emerging and spreading.
Long-term investment is needed and medical providers and drugs companies should continue to work together to understand how diseases such as cancer are evolving, then find ways to prevent and cure them at a genetic level.
Long-term benefits for medical providers mean that these diseases should become less common, and therefore allowing money to fund other treatments and preventative cures.
Big data in medicine
Big data is everywhere and in the medical sector, there is an enormous amount of data available.
What we do with all of this data is the main challenge. How it’s used, how medical providers, drugs and insurance companies interpret the data that decides how useful – or not – innovation in this area proves.
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Between wearables and platforms that contain patient data on treatments, there is more than enough information to create a 360 view of millions of patients.
With the right tools and platforms in place – some of which might still need to be built – access to this data in near real-time would give doctors the ability to provide more effective treatment and therefore reduce long-term costs for medical providers and those funding them.
Fighting disease with genetic engineering
Other diseases are not lifestyle choices. Fighting malaria and the Zika virus required a more innovative solution than traditional approaches allowed. Using genetically-modified mosquitos, scientists and health organisations are able to reduce the deadly spread of these diseases.
Advancements in genetic technology, like genetic sequencing and synthesis, are currently helping to fight the coronavirus epidemic.
This is another way of effectively reducing the impact – including the cost – of deadly outbreaks that can kill millions. A business case should always be possible to create around preventing every death we can.
Fighting misinformation
In the US and Europe, a growing risk to babies, children, and teenagers is a movement of misinformation against the dangers of vaccines, commonly known as “anti-vaxxers.” The WHO has identified this as one of the top ten global health threats in 2019.
Similar to a disease, misinformation and outright lies spread through social networks, and the media about the impact of vaccines is causing real risks to millions around the world.
Governments and medical providers need to continue to fight this spread of misinformation, otherwise, we risk diseases coming back that have not caused problems for humanity since the Victorian era.
Poor health, choices, and a lack of the right information costs lives and increases costs for medical providers. We have the tools, resources, and data to make real, lasting improvements to the overall health of humanity.
Making the business case around digital transformation means putting the most effective tools and systems in the hands of doctors, nurses, healthcare providers, and patients to improve the choices they make and therefore the outcomes of preventative treatment and traditional approaches to medicine.
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