Are we entering an era of technology-enabled disruption in healthcare?
Unquestionably, emerging technologies are reshaping healthcare in many ways—how it’s accessed, how it’s delivered, and what outcomes it achieves. Yet these improvements have come at a cost. Nearly 18 percent of the U.S. GDP is consumed by health spending, which is expected to reach ~$6.0 trillion by 2027. And yet, despite these levels of spending, healthcare lags behind many other industries in digitization (consider online retail platforms, home- and ride-sharing services, and personalized, on-demand media).
As we look toward the future of healthcare, might we be able to deliver healthcare advances while improving affordability?
It’s not a stretch to imagine. However, this transition may require entirely new business models, cross-industry collaboration with non-healthcare players, and developing clear use cases with evidence-based ROIs.
A recent McKinsey article predicts nine technologies that have the potential to revolutionize healthcare over the next 5 to 7 years:
Connected and cognitive devices, such as wearables, that can monitor health information.
Electroceuticals – small implantable devices that can alter the nervous system’s electrical impulses to treat a variety of diseases.
Targeted and personalized medicine – drug therapies that use a patient’s own cells or deliver targeted genetic material.
Robotics, such as next-gen robots that use minimally invasive techniques to improve surgeries.
3D printing which creates customized, 3-dimensional structures to be used for organ replacements, personalized prosthetics, and precision medication dosages.
Big data and analytics – the opportunity to better collect data and translate it into actionable insights.
AI – converting analytical insights into cognitive engagement to improve diagnoses and predict interventions.
Blockchain – a decentralized digital ledger technology that enables secure and confidential transactions and democratized data access.
Robotic process automation (RPA) or the automation of repetitive tasks via simple rules or heuristics to improve productivity.
While many of these are not new – they are new to healthcare. Their adoption and success in the market will rely on demand, regulatory and economic conditions, and placing big bets on capital deployment.
If the industry chooses this path, the payoffs could be significant. McKinsey estimates that, when correctly applied, these technologies could create $350 billion to $410 billion in value annually by 2025. The result could be significant industry-level changes that could disrupt healthcare as it exists today. For example, the integration of blockchain, RPA, AI, and cloud computing could result in a patient-centric data infrastructure integrating longitudinal patient data with nonclinical data. Or consider the ability to test new therapies on 3D-printed tissue, thereby disrupting traditional clinical trials. Or using these technologies to develop a more efficient medical supply chain, delivering supplies to patients homes or targeted clinical settings.
One of the most significant changes could be the creation of a new ecosystem, centered around patients and their families that addresses social determinants of health, health behaviors and genetics. While this type of model has been talked about for a long time (decades), it has yet to be established. Perhaps the right combination of tech, talent and aligned incentives will resolve this.
One thing is for sure – the status quo is unsustainable. I, for one, am excited about tech-enabled interventions that will shift the industry to doing better for less.
Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. National Health Expenditure Data, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet.html
Source: Singhal, S. and Carlton, S. McKinsey & Company. 2019, May. “The era of exponential improvement in healthcare?” Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/the-era-of-exponential-improvement-in-healthcare?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hlkid=dd9b0b9946684508a2fdb3c3b94ac3e1&hctky=10115817&hdpid=fd1c10e3-a6ea-4c15-8b00-798c71ad02c4