THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE
Long ago we feared a simple bump on our back, a slight headache or just a mild fever. We had limited ways to achieve optimum treatment. Today machines, devices and software are helping tremendously to save lives and accurately provide treatment for the respective symptoms. Healthcare has improved as the technology arose. However the practice will alter year after year and rising cost along with increasing demand will certainly be a major cause of transformation.
But how will we get there?
We expect that 20 years from now the customer-centric health care approach will shift its focus towards prevention rather than a cure. Consumerism, data-driven approach and scientific innovation will likely bring the fundamental change to the health care services. Customers will share the data generated from electronic devices and technology will fill-in the data gaps. Variety of healthcare data will then merge to create enhanced at-home treatments for the patients. Advanced analytics will be used to portray the real-time information and AI, VR, AR etc. will empower patients to take control for their holistic well-being rather than just concentrating on disease. People will have physical, mental, spiritual, social and mental health information on demand .Virtual health will come into play and barriers like geography and resources will not hinder the patient check-ups.
With such a strong focus on software in future, the business models of medtech will likely to change in coming years. They should therefore consider collaborating with tech companies which have advanced capabilities and have ability to collect, visualize and analyze the vast data. Moreover, they should go beyond health to understand the basic requirements such as access to the internet, health care equipment and ability to handle the treatment cost. Ergo, the differentiation factor of these companies will be defined by their ability to utilize the data effectively and efficiently, improving the patient outcome through remote monitoring.
It’s time now that countries should gear up the advancement in healthcare industry. A lot has to be done in terms of reducing the cost, accessibility, digitization, availability of highly-skilled doctors and providing quality e-health services. The sooner the vision of future health care is realized, the faster will be the transformed healthcare ecosystem and the healthier will be the population.
