As healthcare continues to grow in complexity and expense, providers and patients alike are looking for better quality, better outcomes, and better value. How can the industry (and the marketers that work for them) fuel patient outreach and education efforts using the latest in technology? We grabbed some vital trends from across the industry.
Data Security
Solutions for data protection, management and security are at the forefront, if not the very top, of the global healthcare industry concerns. The rise in use of digital healthcare technology solutions and more personalized tools are only adding to those concerns. According to a 2018 Deloitte report, other top technology trends include cognitive computer, cloud-based interoperable electronic health records and Internet of Things (IoT).
Better Patient Care
Hospitals are striving for better patient care with digital solutions, like patient portals, personalized digital kits, self check-in kiosks and customer app. And, clinicians’ ability to utilize tech like AR/WR, Telehealth and leveraging social media are all increasingly on the table. According to Accenture’s 2018 Consumer Survey on Digital Health, 12 percent more people are used social media to manage their health in 2018 than in 2017.
Value of Advanced Technology
Overall, technology that helps patients manage their health is becoming more and more important: In 2016, 30 percent of respondents to Accenture’s Consumer Survey on Digital Health said that they ranked technology as “very important.” In 2018, that percentage rose to 36 percent. In fact, the only technology that took a dive from last year, was websites, with 56 percent of people using them to research healthcare this year as opposed to 58 percent last year.
Virtual Care on the Rise
Use of virtual care is slowly growing. In 2018, 23 percent of respondents said that had personally received virtual healthcare. Of the respondents who had not tried it, 57 percent said they’d be willing to. While some patients and physicians still have valid concerns about issues like errors, access to technology, and data security, most agree virtual healthcare is a convenient, accessible option for 2019 and beyond.
2019 Healthcare Predictions
Forbes recently released its top eight healthcare predictions for 2019 and, with their 2018 predictions having been almost 98 percent accurate, we’re ready to listen up. Forecasts include a rise in value-based models for global healthcare spending, a $1.7 billion market for AI in healthcare IT applications, a specialty-specific analytics shift from big data to meaningful small data, ROI-generating commercial implementation of blockchain, and more. Get all eight predictions here and follow along as the year progresses.
