Healthcare in 2021

2020 or ‘the year of pandemic’ has been remarkable in terms of the scale and the extent to which change is taking place all around us, across every industry, region, and organization. The course of technology-driven change has been diverted this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

One industry that has been both disrupted and reinvented is healthcare. The industry promised to be “patient-centered” for the last decade but only the harsh demands of COVID-19 have made this a reality. Evidently, this year has accelerated the adoption of telehealth platforms at a warp speed. Let’s now understand how this trend will shape the healthcare sector in 2021.

Digital health trends in 2021

Based on the predictions from leading innovation leaders in healthcare, some of the major digital health trends in 2021 are expected to be:

Virtual care and remote medicine

“2021 will be a year of realignment in digital health. Some telemedicine programmes now include virtual hospitals that combine remote monitoring and in-person services for patients. Due to the pandemic, virtual visits have skyrocketed (reducing the risk of the infection spread), and in 2021 it is expected that one-third of virtual care appointments will be related to mental health issues. Interestingly, in the UK, companion robots are being introduced into care homes — these robots were found to be helpful in reducing symptoms of loneliness and social isolation.Given the surge, it is expected that the telehealth industry will attain the worth of $185.6 billion by 2026.

Improved data sharing and interoperability

With new data ranging from COVID-19 test results to Apple Watch data to telemedicine visits, interoperability will be more important than ever. The healthcare industry has made improvements in this area over the last decade but there are still barriers to conquer.

The most imminent issue we will face going into 2021 is the COVID-19 vaccine distribution, including storing and shipping the vaccine, as well as the potential need for healthcare and employee data to interoperate. Seamless data sharing also will be crucial to the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, he said. Without interoperability, data sharing, care decisions, workflows, and patient outcomes suffer.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence plays a critical role in the fight against COVID-19, including areas like pandemic detection, vaccine development, thermal screening, facial recognition with masks, and analyzing CT scans. As of now, the role of AI in healthcare has been limited to chatbots where it acts as a first point of contact between the patient and the care providers. But now with the growing popularity of telehealth platforms, AI-based innovation for advanced healthcare is only a matter of time.

Alexa, the smart speaker from Amazon, has gained HIPAA recognition. We can expect more such AI-driven platform to come to fore as innovation in healthcare becomes the primary agenda.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a trend that stands to vastly improve the healthcare industry in 2020 and coming years. Digital ledgers can enable healthcare providers to distribute transaction records to patients securely and will greatly improve data security. Blockchain’s peer-to-peer system allows large numbers of users to securely have access to a common ledger. Thanks to blockchain, there is no need for a basis of trust between two parties. As healthcare technology continues to improve, portability, security, and accessibility are all desired objectives that blockchain can help complete alongside other trends like IoMT and cloud computing.

One of the greatest benefits of blockchain in healthcare technology is interoperability. Through public-private key methods there is greater integrity in the use of healthcare information. Ultimately, this would comply with HIPAA and GDPR regulations.

Blockchain improves transparency and integrity through full visibility through the digital ledger. If there are concerns about counterfeiting or the supply chain, all transactions are logged through the blockchain system. Since this is so easily consolidated, this also saves costs that would have gone into tracking these transactions manually.

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

Various devices and mobile apps have come to play a critical role in tracking and preventing chronic illnesses for many patients and their doctors. By combining IoT development with telemedicine and telehealth technologies, a new Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has emerged. This approach includes the use of a number of wearables, including ECG and EKG monitors. Many other common medical measurements can also be taken, such as skin temperature, glucose level, and blood pressure readings.

By 2025, the IoT industry will be worth $6.2 trillion. The healthcare industry has become so reliant on IoT technology in 2020 that 30% of that market share for IoT devices will come from healthcare.

Privacy Issues

Privacy is an extremely important issue in health technology, especially with regards to HIPAA compliance in 2020. Beyond HIPAA, the General Data Protection Regulation must be considered in order to secure personal data from European Union citizens. Although cloud computing can make storing and retrieving data more efficient, regulations to secure Protected Health Information (ePHI) are very strict and complying with them can be very difficult.

Remote communication with patients is especially important during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Some telehealth technologies are not fully compliant with HIPAA/GDPR which can raise challenges for patient privacy.

If a healthcare provider wants to use an existing system to exchange ePHI with patients through third party software, they will have to obtain a business associate exception with the vendor which can be tedious and difficult. There still is no guarantee that the third party program can fully protect patient data. In addition, keeping information secure through remote doctor calls is difficult. ePHI data must be transmitted in structured formats, and these calls can make the process complicated. Without compliance with HIPAA/GDPR, patient privacy cannot be guaranteed.

AR/VR/MR in Healthcare

Virtual and augmented reality are both important technologies with great potential to enhance the quality of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. From enhancing patient and provider visits to helping educate medical students in procedure simulations, this technology is turning science fiction into reality.

AR and VR technology shows promise for helping stroke victims overcome motor deficiencies. These patients must be put in a robust environment to help regain motor control. However, simulated environments provide more flexibility that physical therapy may not be able to offer. These controlled simulations can be used to gather data to help therapists tailor care plans for their patients.

To sum up

This year, the digital health solutions have evolved from ‘something just for convenience’ to an absolute necessity. From on-demand virtual urgent care and virtual visits, to virtual home health services and tech-enabled home medication administration, the scope and potential of telehealth is immense in improving the value of healthcare.

As healthcare systems enter this digital-dominant era, it is necessary that they reinforce their technology foundations to realize the full potential of digital health. This necessitates adoption of digital technologies, big data analytics & BI, compliance with a wide regulatory landscape, legacy modernization, transforming process & systems, improving IT efficiencies and ensuring functional efficiency, performance, security, and privacy of applications, data, & devices.

Germany and Sweden are well known for hosting digital health hubs that return excellent outcomes. For example, the Digital Health Hub at Nuremberg/Erlangen has an incredibly fertile ground for new innovations to come to market, with over 500 medical technology companies, SMEs and global players, 65 hospitals, 80 research institutions, and the Friedrich Alexander University.

If there were ever a time to invest in digital health, it’s now. The momentum is here to use technology to collaborate with other innovators and improve the products and services in the digital healthcare space, thus improving the lives of millions of people.