The Role of Digital Technology in the U.S. Healthcare Market
High healthcare spending in the United States is not synonymous with good health outcomes. Approximately 50 million people in the U.S. face challenges accessing healthcare. Our country consistently ranks below comparable countries on metrics including quality of care, access to care, and efficiency of care. Even as coverage has expanded under the Affordable Care Act, access to healthcare is still unreliable in the U.S. This means that simply expanding coverage is not sufficient to fully overcome the challenges of accessing care in the U.S. What to do?
Digital Technology: A Potential Solution
As new companies have sprung up to take advantage of a relatively heightened focus on health in the U.S., they have introduced a wealth of new digital technology offerings for consumers. If employed effectively, these offerings could lead to improved access to healthcare for all Americans as well as increased savings for the healthcare sector.
Digital technologies provide a way for populations to access care outside of traditional, in-person care models. Telemedicine, for example, empowers patients via convenient and direct access to providers. E-visits allow consumers to get medical advice from the comfort of their own homes. Digital monitoring tools allow consumers to conveniently self-monitor health conditions in conjunction with providers, empowering them to be involved in their own care.
Expanding the use of digital health technologies can also produce significant cost savings for the healthcare sector. A recent study found that the cost of four days of in-hospital heart monitoring could be reduced by up to 72% through the use of telemedicine and remote monitoring. Clearly, digital technologies that connect providers and consumers provide significant benefits to stakeholders across the health industry.
Key Opportunities & Challenges
As the healthcare system has evolved, so have patient and provider preferences for care. In order for digital technologies to be widely adopted and effectively leveraged, both patient and provider buy-in is necessary. A recent study suggests that we are already on our way:
- Nearly 50% of consumers and 79% of physicians believe that the use of mobile devices can help clinicians better coordinate care.
- Nearly 50% of consumers said that they would be willing to communicate with their caregivers online.
- 53% of clinicians said that they would be comfortable with patients checking vital signs with a device on their phones.
Overcoming barriers to the widespread adoption of digital technologies could be a key way to improve access to healthcare, and subsequently health outcomes, in the U.S.
Clearly, a majority of healthcare consumers and providers are interested in using these technologies. However, in our current healthcare system, there are numerous barriers to doing so, from regulatory issues to reimbursement challenges to consumer and provider knowledge gaps.
Overcoming barriers to the widespread adoption of digital technologies could be a key way to improve access to healthcare, and subsequently health outcomes, in the U.S.
