The month of March 2020 in history will prove to be the most significant inflation points in the field of digital health, comparable to no other. People will speak about healthcare before and then after COVID-19…
In every threat to our society, humanity is moved to one of two extremes. From compassion to selflessness, from optimism to fear, from solitude to togetherness. For industry this also stands true, but rather businesses are placed in danger or opportunity.
For the businesses in the field of digital health (now we are not going to get into definitions here. Cos I aint got time for that. But broadly I am referring to companies that enable healthcare to take advantage of technology), the coronavirus global pandemic presents a phenomenal opportunity. Given the mass isolation that needs to occur, the mass adoption of virtual tools and online services for every other part of our lives, digital health providers are no longer a nice to have but a must have. This has never happened before.
Arguably this has only (slightly) happened before when policy across many western healthcare system mandated (more strongly encouraged) the use of EHR. Even then adoption wasn’t at all urgent. Adoption of digital health under the current circumstance of COVID feels urgent for all stakeholders.
This is significant not because the need is so great today but that it forces the healthcare system to change its way of delivering and enabling healthcare with technology. The healthcare industry and it’s professionals (doctors are mainly the problem) are notoriously the hardest to influence for change. A significant layer of this hard-skin for change in healthcare is partly due to the system’s demand for evidence (which takes a long time), but the biggest reason is because the system lacks the incentives for the change we all desire - accessible, affordable, personalised healthcare. Under the threat of COVID, the incentives couldn’t be more aligned for the adoption of digital health.
The magic though is what happens after we manage to eventually overcome the virus. Will digital health remain hot? Frankly we will have to wait and see. My gut is that the flood gates for digital health adoption in healthcare system have suddenly been forced open during the pandemic.
Doctors who would have never even entertained a virtual consultation will undoubtedly have tried one solution or another. Many will never use it again! But for those who have been converted, the curve for adoption not just of this solution but of others begins.
Think about when you were young and you refused to eat that vegetable because it wasn’t green or it had a wierd shape. Then you tired it and it actually wasn’t that bad in fact you actually quite liked it. This is what is happening at scale with digital health solutions throughout the world.
This can only be a positive thing for the industry. Although the increasing and compelling evidence has shouted about the opportunity for digital health to add value to clinical practice, COVID has forced the industry’s hand to begin to realise it’s value.
But as the saying goes it’s not nice to be pushed, unless it’s in right direction. Healthcare this is your push (ok ok you got me it’s not really a saying, but it kinda sounded like a good ending).
Disclaimer
This is not message to say that digital health is a solution and panacea for all the problems in the healthcare system. NO! I am saying nothing like this. What I am saying is that digital health is in itself a necessary step along the journey to developing the healthcare we all desire. The current willingness and frankly desire of the system to adopt digital health solutions will undoubtedly be a game changer