How Will Healthcare Change In The Future – The future of healthcare is likely to depend on digital transformation through radically interoperable data and open, secure platforms. Health is more likely to revolve around maintaining well-being rather than reacting to illness.
In twenty years, cancer and diabetes may join polio as defeated diseases. We expect prevention and early diagnosis to be central to future health. The onset of the disease in some cases can be delayed or completely eliminated. Sophisticated tests and tools can mean that most diagnoses (and treatments) are done at home.
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How Will Healthcare Change In The Future
Today, the US health care system is a collection of unrelated components (health plans, hospital systems, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers). We expect the consumer to be at the center of the healthcare model by 2040. Interoperable, constantly available data will facilitate closer collaboration between industry stakeholders, and new combinations of services will be offered by both existing and new entrants (disruptors). Interventions and treatments are likely to be more precise, less complex, less invasive and less expensive.
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Health will be defined holistically as a general state of well-being that includes mental, social, emotional, physical and spiritual health. Consumers will not only have access to detailed information about their health, they will own data about their health and have a central role in making decisions about their health and well-being.
The future of health care we envision is only 20 years away, but health in 2040 will be different than what we have now. Based on emerging technologies, we can be fairly certain that digital transformation—through radically interoperable data, artificial intelligence (AI), and open, secure platforms—will drive much of this change. Unlike today, we believe that care will be organized around the consumer, not around the institutions that run our existing health care system.
By 2040 (and perhaps much sooner), health data streams — along with data from many other relevant sources — will combine to create a multifaceted and highly personalized picture of each consumer’s well-being. Today, wearable devices that track our steps, sleep patterns, and even our heart rate are integrated into our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. We expect this trend to accelerate. For example, the next generation of sensors will move us from wearable devices to invisible, always-on sensors embedded in the devices that surround us.
Many medical companies are already starting to incorporate always-on biosensors and software into devices that can generate, collect and share data. Advanced cognitive technologies can be developed to analyze a much larger set of parameters and generate personalized information about consumer health. The availability of data and personalized artificial intelligence can enable precise well-being and real-time micro-interventions that allow us to stay ahead of disease and well ahead of catastrophic illness.
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Armed with this highly detailed personal health information, consumers are likely to demand that their health information be portable. Consumers have become accustomed to the transformations that have occurred in other sectors such as e-commerce and mobility. These consumers will demand that health follow suit and become an integral part of their lives – and they will vote with their feet and their wallets.
While we don’t know exactly how the future will play out, we can look at the signals in today’s market—and the forces of change in other areas—to begin to paint a picture of the future of health. In almost every industry, fundamental shifts in innovation occur in seven-year cycles (Figure 1). Health is no different. By 2040, three of these cycles will have passed — each building will be rebuilt one after the other. To determine where health might be headed, we need to look back at the three cycles of innovation and consider where exponential innovation has gotten us. Figure 2 shows some examples.
Nothing is more important than our health. We all interact with the health care system to varying degrees and will continue to interact with it throughout our lives. Health care costs affect individuals, families, and employers, as well as local, state, and federal budgets. In 2017, healthcare spending in the US exceeded $3.5 trillion (17.9 percent of gross domestic product). That means $10,739 per person in the country.
An estimated 133 million Americans have at least one chronic disease (such as heart disease, asthma, cancer, and diabetes), and the number of people with chronic diseases has been steadily increasing over the years.
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Hospital care now accounts for about one-third of all health care spending in the United States, and chronic diseases account for more than 80 percent of hospitalizations.
Health care consumers usually only interact with the health care system when they are sick or injured. But the future of health care will focus on health and prevention, not cure. As shown in Figure 2, we predict that more health care spending will be focused on maintaining well-being and preventing disease by 2040, while less spending will be related to disease assessment and treatment. A greater focus on well-being and early detection of health risks will lead to fewer and less severe illnesses, leading to lower health care costs, allowing these well-being dividends to be reinvested to spread the benefits to the wider population. In addition to helping improve human well-being, healthcare stakeholders will also work to improve public health. Compatible datasets will be used to guide micro-interventions that help maintain people’s health (Figure 3).
In response to this changing health care landscape, the traditional workplace as we know it today will change. Health will be constantly monitored so that risks can be detected in time. Instead of assessing and treating patients, the focus will be on maintaining well-being by providing ongoing advice and support to consumers.
We do not expect the disease to be completely eradicated by 2040, but the use of useful health information driven by interoperable data and smart AI can help in early disease detection, enable proactive intervention and improve understanding of disease progression. This could allow us to avoid many of the catastrophic costs we have today. Technology can also help break down barriers, such as cost and geography, that can limit access to health professionals and specialists.
Future Of Healthcare Ie
Health systems, health plans and life science companies have begun to shift their focus to wellness, but the overall system is still focused on treating the sick.
Radically interoperable data and artificial intelligence can empower consumers in ways hard to imagine today. Data about individuals, populations, institutions and the environment will be at the center of the future of health.
Most care delivered today is highly algorithmic and predictable. By 2040, highly skilled and expensive healthcare professionals will be able to spend more time with patients with complex diseases. Data and technology will enable consumers to solve many common health problems at home. Consider the child with an ear infection. Instead of taking the child to a clinic or doctor’s office, a home diagnostic test can be used to confirm the patient’s diagnosis. Open and secure data platforms would allow parents to check a diagnosis, order the necessary prescription and have it delivered to their home via drone. Or maybe an ear infection never materializes because the problem is identified and addressed before symptoms appear. In this case, a prescription is not needed at all because the parents intervened early. In both scenarios, consumers take care of health problems at home, allowing doctors to focus on cases that really require human intervention.
The consumer — not health plans or providers — will determine when, where, and from whom they seek care or wellness support. Over the next 20 years, all medical information is likely to be available and – with proper permissions – widely shared by the consumers who own it.
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But consumers may be reluctant to share that information with organizations that don’t offer value or that they don’t trust. According to our 2018 consumer survey, consumers trust hospitals and doctors more than other healthcare organizations. While trust in health plans and pharmaceutical companies is relatively low, consumers are twice as likely to trust information from these groups than in 2010. Healthcare stakeholders must consider ways to gain the trust of these empowered consumers.
Consumers are increasingly accustomed to wearable devices that track activity. The 2018 US Healthcare Consumer Survey finds that consumers are two and a half times more likely to track their health and fitness today than they were in 2013. Data collection devices will become exponentially more sophisticated and will constantly monitor activity, health and environmental factors. Such constant monitoring can help ensure early detection and remediation of health conditions and risks. In the rare cases where treatment is needed, it can be highly personalized.
Consumers can already remotely adjust thermostats, set alarms and turn on lights in their homes. Roll forward to a house equipped with remote-controlled biosensors. This could include a hyper-connected bathroom where the mirror and other technical devices process, detect and analyze health information. For example, well-tuned sensors embedded in a bathroom mirror can monitor body temperature and blood pressure and detect abnormalities by comparing these vital signs with a person’s historical biometric data. Maybe this smart mirror even plays skin
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