Healthcare Innovation Can’t Wait
Learning the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic
By Andre Heeg, Managing Director and Partner, BCGDV
Over the last few years, we’ve seen the possibilities that digital technology affords the healthcare industry. We’ve seen the adoption of telemedicine and ePrescriptions. We’ve seen more insurers offering digital platforms. We’ve seen a multitude of digital therapeutics platforms spring up.
However, what we’ve been lacking is a full commitment to these opportunities. Within Europe, the adoption rate of telemedicine is projected to grow by 14% each year — a passable start, but it will take us a long time to reach full coverage at this rate. As of last year, only 12% of doctors in Europe offered consultations through telemedicine, with telemonitoring availability at just 4%.
As someone passionate about digital health, with experience working in both the healthtech startup sphere and in digitizing large healthcare companies, I’ve long argued that we need to fully commit to digital innovation in the healthcare industry. I’ve seen many clear examples of technology improving the way we do healthcare, improvements that benefit all sides: Patients, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, governments, and insurers alike. For example US company Zocdoc (full disclaimer: I used to work for the company) helps patients book appointments, find doctors, and navigate the healthcare system.
But while some have listened and invested in their digital health offerings, the ways in which we’ve fallen short have now been laid bare by the COVID-19 crisis. Whereas before the crisis many thought of technology in healthcare as something that might be nice to have one day but as not a priority, it’s now clear for all to see that, in fact, digital solutions for the healthcare industry are vital. A slow but steady adoption rate in telemedicine was fine before, but now that a visit to the doctor’s office is fraught with risk, it’s no longer enough.
The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the painful fact that almost all of us in the industry, from pharmaceutical companies to healthcare providers, neglected to fix the roof while the sun shone. Now that we’re in the middle of a storm, it’s worth doing two things: Using our existing technology to the best of our ability, and learning from our experiences so that we’re well equipped to build the digital solutions our healthcare industry needs when we’re out of crisis mode. The lessons we learn from this crisis will not only help us avoid possible future pandemics, but also improve how our healthcare sector operates for patients, companies, and doctors.
Data
Clearly the data collected by epidemiologists will prove crucial to managing the crisis and tracking the virus. We’re seeing the opportunity for members of the public to engage directly with their own health data, even before they get anywhere near a hospital or doctor’s surgery. In Singapore, the government has launched the app TraceTogether, which members of the public install on their phones to track who they’ve been in contact with. Operating through Bluetooth, the app tracks users who have passed within infection proximity of one another. Once a user is diagnosed with the virus, users who have passed within proximity of one another are alerted to place themselves under quarantine.
There are obvious privacy concerns around technology like this, particularly in Europe, and these decisions are always a tradeoff between privacy and functionality. But a version of this app might be used in the future to predict and curtail flu seasons or track other viruses. Likewise, patient self-assessment and self-tracking can help patients and researchers to understand medical conditions and advance science; companies like Ada Health offer patient self-assessment, and therefore might be able to spot spikes in particular conditions fast.
Self-Service and Patient-Focused Healthcare
Doctor’s offices are advising anyone who suspects they’ve contracted the COVID-19 virus to stay away to limit the spread of infection. An uptake in telemedicine, following the examples of Teladoc or Teleclinic, would solve this problem. Pharmacies, on the other hand, are now becoming de facto advice centers, where people go to get treatment guidance, tragically leading to the deaths of two pharmacists in Italy. All this could also be done online, with ePrescriptions and advice platforms, along the lines of companies such as Babylon Health. Once they become more widely available, test kits could be directly delivered and then returned to research centers.
There’s a big opportunity for more activity in this area once the crisis is over. Brief consultations could be offered online, through chat or through video, and patients could order the test kits or medicine they need afterwards. Telemedicine has seen a huge uptick due to the crisis, with Swedish telemedicine provider Kry having recorded an increase of 219% in video consultation hours in recent weeks alone and app registrations rising by 162%.
Close-to-Core Innovation
Although a lot of innovation should focus on patients and therapeutics, there’s also room for work closer to the operations of companies.
One issue that the crisis has underlined is the relative fragility of supply chains. Many pharma companies have supply chains that are spread throughout the world and involve raw materials transported to labs and factories across borders. Even before the crisis, they struggled to keep up with increasingly complex manufacturing technologies and strict regulatory oversight. Now would be a good time for these companies to work on making their supply chains more transparent and efficient, building digital tools to ensure the most efficient distribution of material at the right time, and safeguarding their inventories.
Last year, a report revealed that just 12% of supply chain organizations are currently using AI, leaving a huge amount of room for innovation. Optimizing pharma supply chains and adding traceability technology, such as that being developed by OpenSC, would enable companies to use data collected from the factory to the pharmacy shop floor to uncover inefficiencies and bottlenecks, prevent any potential unauthorized tampering, and have a full view of how their products and processes can be improved. By innovating close to the core of their operations, pharma companies can become quicker, smarter, and more efficient.
Connecting the Healthcare Sector
What all of these solutions have in common is a look towards increasing connectivity: Solutions do not exist in silos. A world in which patients can track their health data to inform public health bodies is also a world that enables them to receive tailored healthcare solutions through patient-oriented digital platforms. If we can foster this interconnectivity, we can commit to innovating within healthcare, and learn the lessons we refused to before the COVID-19 pandemic. It will take a smart and honest approach, but we know now that digital innovation can’t wait any longer.
We’re in the middle of a crisis. We’ll get through it, as tough as that will be. But, once we’re through the worst, we can’t afford not to learn the lessons it’s presented us with. It will soon be time to innovate and build the future of healthcare, together. We can’t let this opportunity go to waste.
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