Looking ahead in digital health

The world is changing and, people’s needs and expectations for healthcare are changing along with it. We’re facing pandemic-driven delayed care, ongoing access issues, and rising costs with greater consumer responsibility. People are burned out at work, struggling with mental health issues, and want more from the healthcare system and their benefits – but they’re confused. What healthcare consumers need now more than at any other time is access to the right digital experience and an experienced pair of hands to help direct their care experience. 

Digital health solutions combined with modern services will enable a more convenient and cost-effective approach to care that embraces the whole person. These new approaches will challenge old models – with the new approaches proving far more valuable to members and their sponsors.

Over the next 3-5 years, I anticipate three main trends will move from emerging to commonplace, making healthcare better for everyone – patients, providers, health plans, and employers: 

• Continued consolidation will bring greater ease and convenience – Healthcare has become increasingly specialized, which makes it all the more complicated for patients. Navigating a maze of provider networks, benefits coverage, and the like is confusing. When you or someone you care about is unwell, you just want to get better, faster. I expect we will see market offerings continue to evolve and consolidate in two areas, providing patients with easier, more convenient access to the information and care they need to manage their health: 

• • Digital health players will become increasingly important in helping people manage the overall patient journey, end to end. APIs and tech integration will enable a greater opportunity to consolidate individual solutions into more holistic, core platforms, bringing together everything a patient needs in one place. 
  • We’ll also see an evolution and consolidation of the primary care channel, putting greater emphasis on patient convenience. The pandemic proved that people are ready for telehealth, particularly for routine issues. In the coming years, virtual primary care via text, video, and other modalities will become even more commonplace, alongside increased use of retail care settings. Urgent care clinics will see increased demand for illnesses and minor injuries - like an extension of the hospital. These accessible care settings will overtake the PCP office as the default; while hospitals will be for specialty care, emergencies, and everything else. 
    
    
• The home is where healthcare will be – Speaking of convenience, the home setting is not only convenient for patients, but is a more affordable care setting. Driven by an aging population who may have mobility issues, people recovering from procedures, who have chronic conditions, and those who simply prefer to stay in their home, we will see the home become a true care setting with digital innovations to support it. Advancements like remote patient monitoring, telehealth, and deployable care delivery networks have made home-based care access a game-changer. I expect it will become a regular part of the healthcare ecosystem, subsequently taking pressure off other care settings where people need more urgent treatment.  
  
  
• Whole person care will take center stage – Healthcare has traditionally been more focused on physical health, and everyone from employers to provider organizations to health plans are finally recognizing that we must focus on the whole person. The stresses of the pandemic and everything that followed has finally forced decision-makers to understand that people’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing must all be recognized and addressed.  Over the next several years, healthcare provider organizations will add resources and expertise to navigate these issues and materially impact outcomes.