uch has already been written on what the “new normal” for healthcare technologies will look like during the pandemic recovery. In particular, we are hearing debates across the public and private sectors on the management, sharing and ethical use of sensitive data in response to crisis and what changes today could mean for the long-term future of health systems.
For leaders facing a deluge of information in this space, it is helpful to prioritize which issues will most likely have critical impact to operations, care delivery, and reimbursement streams going forward. In the upcoming months, leaders may not have the luxury of having all the data on hand before deciding the next action. However, referencing solid principles and tools can help us respond decisively.
With this in mind, here are a few issues that we see having the greatest impact on health tech.
1. The surge for telehealth services will catalyze irreversible changes.
We are already seeing health systems make significant changes to accommodate the spike in demand for telehealth services. As countries worldwide have shut down, the usage of telemedicine has increased; payers and providers have embraced the new model—as have patients. In the United States, more than 50 health systems, such as Atrium Health, have already integrated telehealth technology to connect healthcare providers to patients at home. Healthcare networks are seeing a spike in their telehealth usage numbers, some reporting an increase from 200 video visits a year to more than 12,000 per week.
Deployment of pandemic telehealth solutions have taken two paths: broadly, “forward triage” or “sorting of patients before they arrive in the emergency department (ED)” to help ease burdens on overcrowding and limited frontline healthcare workers, and “direct-to-consumer,” the telehealth more commonly known to the general public.
But beyond the individual system changes we see, is the bigger picture of how governments are preparing to handle this demand in the longer term.
For example, in Indonesia, where the COVID-19 linked death rate stands at 9.1 percent, compared to the global average of 5.2 percent, the government has publicly called for ramping up the usage of telehealth services. It has assembled the virus taskforce to explore new policies that will integrate this standard into the national healthcare system more permanently.
In the United States, the nation’s largest payer of healthcare services, the U.S. Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), greatly expanded telehealth benefits for Medicare beneficiaries allowing for reimbursements for telehealth visits. This builds on some previous CMS expansion, but is clearly seen as a significant step and observers are predicting this will become permanent. Further, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be granting $200 million to qualifying provides for COVID-19 telehealth deployment.
For leaders, keeping a close watch on the government task forces around the world shifting their approach to key funding support and guidance to telehealth integration will be critical. This is more than likely going to be a space of permanent changes to both patient and stakeholder expectations throughout pandemic recovery and beyond.
2. The ethical guardrails for AI usage are being defined by how we use technology today.
From contact tracing, to monitoring the implementation of social distancing measures, to handling personal information for individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, the uptick in wide-scale use of health technologies by both governments and healthcare systems alike is putting the spotlight on conversations about responsible and ethical use.
One thing is clear, to outpace the pandemic we will need to maximize the use of technology solutions, but in that same vein, ethical use should not be compromised.
The tracking and containment app, TraceTogether, developed by Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) is a good example. While the app does track individuals through proximity data, it does not compromise individual location or contacts. It also randomizes any potentially identifying data to protect the user.
Recognizing that now is the moment of establishing foundational policies and precedent around trust in technology, Washington state pushed through landmark legislation on the issue, even at the height of the pandemic. The legislation protects citizens’ privacy in the use of facial recognition technology, a move to serve the public interest while ensuring guardrails around fundamental rights.
In this and other cases, we are seeing governments and companies break ground on ethics and trust that our personal data is being used appropriately. Understanding these benchmarks and the impact this will have for health tech innovation and delivery will inform businesses for decades to come.
3. A growing pool of non-healthcare stakeholders will influence health strategies.
The pandemic response has once again impressed that we cannot view healthcare delivery in silos. We are all familiar with conversations around the social determinants of health, yet the current situation reveals in even starker light the role of non-healthcare players in prevention, treatment, and adherence. The new reality is encouraging many new partners to enter the ring, driving discussions on healthcare systems, integrated health and patient-centricity as never before.
For example, in India, as the health sector prepares for significant strains due to the pandemic, housing authorities, the energy sector, big tech companies and philanthropic organizations alike are working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as well as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to discuss healthcare system sustainability.
Increased share of voice from such non-typical health players will continue to shift and reshape core strategies for leaders.
A case in point, The White House, the U.S. Department of Energy, and big tech companies like IBM, AWS, Google, Microsoft, and others recently announced a new partnership for “supercomputing resources to fight COVID-19.” This action, as well as the rollout future government initiatives around the world to cement new partnerships between health researchers, the tech industry, and academia will be a space to watch.
First movers are preparing for recovery now.
There is an overwhelming number of moving parts impacting the health technology space during this pandemic. Looking to recovery, it is sometimes challenging to ascertain which changes are temporary and which will be long-lasting. But for countries, companies, and individuals to come back stronger—health IT will play an essential role. Expect further significant efforts to find ways to use technology to avoid future “non-essential” healthcare restrictions so that citizens can receive their needed health care from providers while at the same time ensuring safety.
The good news for leaders is that we need not reinvent the wheel. Conversations around ethical use of data of AI and interoperability have been established since before the outbreak, and leveraging these principles and best practices thoughtfully will be what gets our health leaders through with agility and resilience.
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Three Areas That Will Define Health Technologies Moving Forward
May 16, 2020
M
uch has already been written on what the “new normal” for healthcare technologies will look like during the pandemic recovery. In particular, we are hearing debates across the public and private sectors on the management, sharing and ethical use of sensitive data in response to crisis and what changes today could mean for the long-term future of health systems.
For leaders facing a deluge of information in this space, it is helpful to prioritize which issues will most likely have critical impact to operations, care delivery, and reimbursement streams going forward. In the upcoming months, leaders may not have the luxury of having all the data on hand before deciding the next action. However, referencing solid principles and tools can help us respond decisively.
With this in mind, here are a few issues that we see having the greatest impact on health tech.
1. The surge for telehealth services will catalyze irreversible changes.
We are already seeing health systems make significant changes to accommodate the spike in demand for telehealth services. As countries worldwide have shut down, the usage of telemedicine has increased; payers and providers have embraced the new model—as have patients. In the United States, more than 50 health systems, such as Atrium Health, have already integrated telehealth technology to connect healthcare providers to patients at home. Healthcare networks are seeing a spike in their telehealth usage numbers, some reporting an increase from 200 video visits a year to more than 12,000 per week.
Deployment of pandemic telehealth solutions have taken two paths: broadly, “forward triage” or “sorting of patients before they arrive in the emergency department (ED)” to help ease burdens on overcrowding and limited frontline healthcare workers, and “direct-to-consumer,” the telehealth more commonly known to the general public.
But beyond the individual system changes we see, is the bigger picture of how governments are preparing to handle this demand in the longer term.
For example, in Indonesia, where the COVID-19 linked death rate stands at 9.1 percent, compared to the global average of 5.2 percent, the government has publicly called for ramping up the usage of telehealth services. It has assembled the virus taskforce to explore new policies that will integrate this standard into the national healthcare system more permanently.
In the United States, the nation’s largest payer of healthcare services, the U.S. Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), greatly expanded telehealth benefits for Medicare beneficiaries allowing for reimbursements for telehealth visits. This builds on some previous CMS expansion, but is clearly seen as a significant step and observers are predicting this will become permanent. Further, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be granting $200 million to qualifying provides for COVID-19 telehealth deployment.
For leaders, keeping a close watch on the government task forces around the world shifting their approach to key funding support and guidance to telehealth integration will be critical. This is more than likely going to be a space of permanent changes to both patient and stakeholder expectations throughout pandemic recovery and beyond.
2. The ethical guardrails for AI usage are being defined by how we use technology today.
From contact tracing, to monitoring the implementation of social distancing measures, to handling personal information for individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, the uptick in wide-scale use of health technologies by both governments and healthcare systems alike is putting the spotlight on conversations about responsible and ethical use.
One thing is clear, to outpace the pandemic we will need to maximize the use of technology solutions, but in that same vein, ethical use should not be compromised.
The tracking and containment app, TraceTogether, developed by Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) is a good example. While the app does track individuals through proximity data, it does not compromise individual location or contacts. It also randomizes any potentially identifying data to protect the user.
Recognizing that now is the moment of establishing foundational policies and precedent around trust in technology, Washington state pushed through landmark legislation on the issue, even at the height of the pandemic. The legislation protects citizens’ privacy in the use of facial recognition technology, a move to serve the public interest while ensuring guardrails around fundamental rights.
In this and other cases, we are seeing governments and companies break ground on ethics and trust that our personal data is being used appropriately. Understanding these benchmarks and the impact this will have for health tech innovation and delivery will inform businesses for decades to come.
3. A growing pool of non-healthcare stakeholders will influence health strategies.
The pandemic response has once again impressed that we cannot view healthcare delivery in silos. We are all familiar with conversations around the social determinants of health, yet the current situation reveals in even starker light the role of non-healthcare players in prevention, treatment, and adherence. The new reality is encouraging many new partners to enter the ring, driving discussions on healthcare systems, integrated health and patient-centricity as never before.
For example, in India, as the health sector prepares for significant strains due to the pandemic, housing authorities, the energy sector, big tech companies and philanthropic organizations alike are working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as well as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to discuss healthcare system sustainability.
Increased share of voice from such non-typical health players will continue to shift and reshape core strategies for leaders.
A case in point, The White House, the U.S. Department of Energy, and big tech companies like IBM, AWS, Google, Microsoft, and others recently announced a new partnership for “supercomputing resources to fight COVID-19.” This action, as well as the rollout future government initiatives around the world to cement new partnerships between health researchers, the tech industry, and academia will be a space to watch.
First movers are preparing for recovery now.
There is an overwhelming number of moving parts impacting the health technology space during this pandemic. Looking to recovery, it is sometimes challenging to ascertain which changes are temporary and which will be long-lasting. But for countries, companies, and individuals to come back stronger—health IT will play an essential role. Expect further significant efforts to find ways to use technology to avoid future “non-essential” healthcare restrictions so that citizens can receive their needed health care from providers while at the same time ensuring safety.
The good news for leaders is that we need not reinvent the wheel. Conversations around ethical use of data of AI and interoperability have been established since before the outbreak, and leveraging these principles and best practices thoughtfully will be what gets our health leaders through with agility and resilience.
