The 2020 edition of EY’s annual report on five trends driving the emergence of the personalized health explores how recent forces are being amplified by the pandemic. “I’m optimistic that the pandemic might act as a catalyst for the adoption of many of the advances we’ve been advocating for the past two years,” says Spence. Here are the trends shaping what our post-coronavirus healthcare system could look like.
1. The data explosion will reshape the healthcare ecosystem
In 2018 alone, the health care sector generated an estimated 1,218 exabytes of data – 100 times more than all the data humankind generated in its history up to the year 2000. In 2020, that number is likely to be vastly higher. But that data is often siloed and of little use to patients.
The pandemic has shown that sharing data across the system is now critical. “We need to unlock the power of that data to drive and accelerate affordable and accessible care,” says Spence. That will require greater collaboration between data holders, and empowering patients to access and control their own data.
2. Sensors, 5G and artificial intelligence will create a new network transforming health care
With the world still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, the importance of detecting, modelling and preventing disease has never been higher on the agenda. “We’ve seen the need for sensors and AI, and the importance of disease modelling,” says Spence. Such systems are increasingly intelligent; the US Food and Drug Administration gave 34 approvals for algorithms in 2018-19. And new wearable sensors such as Valencell’s blood pressure-sensing earbuds, combined with the increased data bandwidth of 5G networks, will enable new possibilities for virtual care and personalised treatments.
“We’re going to see an explosion in continuous monitoring while people are on the go,” says Spence. “We’ll be able to get a constant stream of data. That unlocks new treatment pathways; the timings of different interventions can change with the patient.”
3. Data will help us understand and influence healthy behaviour
The success of social distancing is a stark demonstration of how personal behaviour can play a vital part in public health. “There’s been a massive rate at which behaviour change has been adopted,” says Spence. Trials by companies such as Virta Health and BlueStar have shown that digital solutions that encourage behavioural change can be effective in the treatment of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Thus far, such behavioural change startups have struggled to gain traction. But the pandemic may change that, with lockdown and hand-washing providing a visceral demonstration of the link between healthy behaviours and healthy outcomes. As a result, Spence says, the pandemic may “act as a stimulus for behaviour change to become a complementary therapeutic alongside various different medicines.”
4. If you want everyone to participate, trust is essential
In 2019, over 41 million health care records were exposed, stolen or disclosed without permission in the United States. Spence notes that the pandemic crisis has only worsened this problem. “Cyber risks have increased significantly throughout this pandemic,” she says. With vast quantities of data moving through the healthcare system, trust and security are paramount. That goes not just for patients and consumers, but also for regulators. Take AI: the FDA has previously approved “locked” algorithms (which are trained on a fixed data set), rather than “unlocked” algorithms, which continue learning and evolving.
But the regulator has recently indicated it will move toward evaluating not AI products, but the developers themselves, based on the safety and transparency of their development protocols. “We believe AI and algorithms will be approved more quickly if they come from approved organisations,” says Spence. The next step is working to overcome patients’ worries over data security and privacy. “Privacy concerns are overcome when users see there’s a benefit to sharing; that’s the hurdle a lot of tech has to overcome.”
5. Organisations will need to specialise on what they do best
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare was facing a challenging business landscape. “Capital is more expensive, and competition more acute. It’s not possible to do everything,” Spence says. In her view, that makes it imperative to “focus on core value and ask, ‘who is your customer?’”
EY predicts that healthcare companies will increasingly concentrate on one of four business models: breakthrough innovators focused on new therapies; efficient producers focused on scale; disease managers offering personalised tools to handle chronic disease; and lifestyle managers which help customers maintain health and wellness. “Covid-19 has shown the need for resilience. The need for resilience is going to accelerate the adoption of new business models,” Spence says. Though the pandemic is demonstrating the need for change in the healthcare industry, it is also showing that innovation can lead to a brighter future. “It’s expanding what was possible,” she says.
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
