The healthcare landscape is undergoing a tremendous transformation. Patient satisfaction is a strong force propelling the development of new therapies and patient-centric care models.
Entrepreneurs worldwide are in a tight race to find the best way to tap into the power of patient behavior and satisfaction.
The global digital health market is expected to reach US $456.9 Billion by 2026[i]. McKinsey data shows that from 2014 to 2018, there were 580+ healthcare technology deals in the US alone for a total of $380 billion[ii].
The largest and fastest ‘healthtech’ category is focused on care delivery. This segment comprises 49% of the total market! Care delivery includes innovations to improve drug and therapy delivery, disease management, remote patient support, including wearable technology, telemedicine, and digital pharmacies[iii].
The key driver of this momentum is that consumer expectations have changed[iv]. People track reviews and ratings for doctors online. They want their doctors and healthcare teams to connect and communicate healthcare options effectively. Increasingly, they leverage peer support, both online and offline, before making health-related decisions.
There are obstacles to overcome before achieving true patient-centric care
The goal of patient-centric care should be to seamlessly integrate patients as active partners with healthcare teams throughout their care journeys. Doing so gathers valuable insights and builds satisfaction, loyalty, and reputation.
Roadblocks to tackle include:
- Listening to patient digital chatter: Patients regularly discuss their symptoms, diagnoses, medications, medical devices, doctors, therapies, and recovery progress online. But this data may be ignored by busy health systems because processes have not been put into place.
- Mining unstructured and fragmented patient data: Patient data is often unstructured and fragmented across departmental forms, online platforms, social media, and word-of-mouth. Health systems need technologies that help them analyze the data.
- Protecting patient data privacy: Patient data privacy is paramount, and there are strict regulations to protect personal information. Hospitals and healthcare professionals need an intuitive solution that scrubs identifying parameters from patient data and offer high-quality, anonymized analytics.
- Closing the feedback loop: Currently, hospitals can implement systems to collect patient feedback at various points of their inpatient care. However, how can companies help healthcare teams understand how a patient’s symptoms progress before entering a hospital, and their recovery, medication adherence, and drug effectiveness after they leave the hospital premises? These steps are critical in closing the feedback loop of patient journeys.
- Actioning change based on the results: “The ultimate purpose of collecting the data is to provide a basis for action or a recommendation.” – Edward Deming. Healthcare needs cutting-edge solutions to offer real-time insights into actionable changes and the way forward.
It is exciting to see that enterprising companies are tackling this crucial challenge head-on.
Like the rest of the world, the MENA and SE Asia regions are battling an increase in chronic diseases. As a result, there is pressure on public and private health organizations to focus and support:
- the rise of technologies offering real-world patient insights
- preventive health measures,
- patient interaction and education
What do you think are the main obstacles to patient-centric care?
What are some of the innovative companies tackling these issues?
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[i] Global Industry Analysts Inc., (GIA). (2021). Digital Health – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics. https://www.strategyr.com/market-report-digital-health-forecasts-global-industry-analysts-inc.asp.
[ii] Singhal, S., Kayyali, B., Levin, R., & Greenberg, Z. (2020, June 16). The next wave of healthcare innovation: The evolution of ecosystems. Mckinsey.Com; McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/the-next-wave-of-healthcare-innovation-the-evolution-of-ecosystems.
[iii] Cohen, D., Hung, A., Weinberg, E., & Zhu, D. (2020, November 20). Healthtech in the fast lane: What is fueling investor excitement? Mckinsey.Com; McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/life-sciences/our-insights/healthtech-in-the-fast-lane-what-is-fueling-investor-excitement.
[iv] Are consumers already living the future of health? (n.d.). Deloitte Insights. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/consumer-health-trends.html.