Covid-19 is transforming medicine and the health industry at breakneck speed. Changes that we previously thought would take 10 years now look more likely to materialise in two. That is in a large part because governments, doctors, insurance companies and patients have woken up to the benefits of data and technology in health care.
One of the most notable changes in health care provision is the acceptance of e-services. In an indication of the broader trend, Boston-based Partners HealthCare reported that the number of virtual visits jumped to 90,000 in March 2020 from just 1,600 a year ago.
Such technologies have been around for at least a decade, but up until now, doctors and patients have been reluctant to use video appointments, concerned about the loss of direct contact with patients. That has now changed – across the developed world, the vast majority of doctor’s appointments have moved online virtually overnight. Japan is a case in point. The government, previously resistant to online doctor visits, has now relaxed restrictions and Line, Japan’s 80-million-subscriber messenger services, is set to launch a medical-diagnosis app this summer in bid to ease pressure on front-line workers.
The trend won’t reverse once the pandemic eases. There are just too many benefits, particularly in terms of improving access to medical services. And the realm of what can be achieved is constantly expanding. The latest cameras, increased computer processing power and artificial intelligence (AI), for example, have opened the door to first stage diagnosis of dermatological conditions from photos.
The technology will perhaps have the biggest impact on developing economies. In fact, digital medicine – aided by the roll out of 5G wireless technology – is the only way we will be able to achieve the United Nations’ goal of universal health coverage by 2030.
Prevent and prepare
The pandemic has also highlighted how important it is for entire populations to develop and maintain strong immune systems. Prevention, which has historically struggled to attract sufficient attention and funding, has consequently become a government priority. Particularly among those countries where the average age of the population is high and rising.
At a time when a growing number of us are living longer, the challenge is to ensure that as many of those extra years as possible are lived in good health, easing the burden on the health care system.
As we embrace technology, simple devices can be used to monitor people at risk from diseases, such as diabetes, and help them to adapt their lifestyle and improve health. They can help us get the right amount of sleep, the right amount of physical movement, the right eating patterns, with big data and AI playing a key role in determining the optimum parameters in each case.
It is likely that we slowly see a change in health systems from benchmarking treatments and surgeries to benchmarking the wellbeing and quality of life.
Shared data
We are also becoming more willing to bridge public and private data. Governments worldwide are using location apps to gauge the spread of infection, collect more information about disease, and monitor overall health levels.
However, while the power of the tracking app is impressive, there is much work to be done. Security and privacy concerns need to be properly addressed if we want the public to continue using them over the long run.
Data can also help to finesse diagnostics by looking for anomalies in individual health records, as well as to speed up the development of vaccines and treatments. In fact, technology is one of the reasons we might be able to get a Covid-19 vaccine much sooner than the usual 10-15 year development cycle. AI has the power to sift through all the available information and research of the virus, analyse its DNA and structure and then match that information to existing formulas to determine which vaccines or drugs could potentially be used or adapted.
In general, it is no coincidence that the countries that have had success in containing the spread of Covid-19 have one thing in common: a sophisticated relationship with data. They know how to collect it, analyse it and share it in a way that influences behavior. The more data we have, the better we can target treatments and preventative measures.
