ICDL2019

Digital Health

We are entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution where rapid technological advances are blurring the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds. New technologies (e.g., robotics, block chain, 3D printing and artificial intelligence) and scientific breakthroughs such as gene editing have resulted in a hyper-connected world and the transformation of life sciences companies’ business models.

As consumers grow accustomed to sharing data and using it in real time to do their banking or retail, these experiences colour their expectations of what kind of health care they deserve. As a result, there has been a radical shift in consumer expectations and awareness about the desire for convenient, personalized care that improves an individual’s health. The industry is working hand-in-hand with leading technology players to come up to speed and to further advance the technologies to newer and more sophisticated avenues.

For the last two decades life sciences companies have created value by developing premium priced products (either for primary care market or in more specialized areas such as oncology.) As reimbursement pressures have grown, there has been a shift toward outcomes driven business models. A multitude of technologies are reshaping this emerging health care ecosystem, including:

• Electronic health records and cloud storage: Allow quick access to and storage of individual’s data enabling streamlined collaboration between different stakeholders in the ecosystem
• Consumer-facing mobile apps: Empower patients to be in charge of their own health
• Wearable’s / Remote monitoring tools: Enable care providers to remotely monitor the key health parameters of the patient and allow real-time decision making
• Augmented reality: Technologies such as 3D medical imaging and vein visualization are being explored to further improve remote care and achieve improved patient outcomes

With this uninterrupted pace of technological evolution, we can soon expect an era of platforms providing end-to-end “medical solutions” by the end of the next decade. New entrants outside the traditional health space see a massive opportunity to improve health care as a result of changing customer expectations and technological advancements. Convergence between these non-traditional and traditional players, which blends health care expertise with network and platform capabilities, is resulting in a new health care ecosystem that ultimately will be more holistic.