It is nothing new to suggest that the implementation of technology can grow, scale and support business. Over the past decade, we have seen many industries adopt and embrace technology in the workplace and have seen these businesses reap the benefits. This has helped to encourage more analogue industries such as healthcare to embrace digital transformation.
The incorporation of tech into medicine, and digital therapeutics specifically, has been proven to improve efficiency, productivity, and accessibility. More intrinsically, the implementation of cloud-based operating systems does just that.
Technology Empowers Healthcare Providers
Rather than taking jobs away from workers, technology empowers healthcare providers (HCPs) and enables them to efficiently prioritise patients that require one-to-one review in a conventional care setting. Technology can also reduce the margin for error and allows HCPs to focus on the aspects of their day-to-day tasks that deserve more time and attention: the administration of care.
Digital acceleration has impacted the healthcare industry in a variety of ways. It has navigated population growth, contributed to longer lifespans, and helped manage new and complex health issues. Most recently it has helped to manage doctor shortages and more generally, support the NHS through a global pandemic.
Over the past year, with COVID-19 we have seen first-hand how tech and digital progress has enabled the industry to better manage challenges such as diagnosis, management and patient outcomes. It has alleviated pressure from the NHS by supporting patients through technology to manage conditions remotely, minimising the risk to themselves and those around them.
Technology also has a huge role to play in supporting the implementation of specialist referrals and personalised patient care at a large scale. Digital therapeutics can deliver evidence-based interventions using software, including NHS-approved digital platforms, which are used by providers across the UK.
Technology empowers patients and clinical teams to manage long-term conditions, such as Asthma, COPD, Diabetes and Heart disease, as well as COVID-19, using digital therapeutics and specific management tools. It is well worth noting that at least 25% of patients have two or more of these conditions.
Long-term condition management places a huge burden on the NHS financially, and we need to deliver care smarter, and more efficiently to make the best use of this limited funding. Asthma care alone, for example costs the NHS £1.1bn, a large part of this funding is on inhaled therapy which over 70% of patients have more than one critical error in administration. I have seen the implementation of digital therapeutics and medical education correct inhaler technique by up to 80% meaning that the medication is much more likely to impact on patient symptoms and reduce the risk of an exacerbation. Delivering these interventions in this manner increases the capacity of conventional services to improve the health of all patients, intelligently, rapidly, and efficiently.
Increasing Healthcare Accessibility
Another important point to consider is that technology increases accessibility across the board. On average, patients receive only 15 minutes of clinical time with their HCP per year. This is not good enough. Digital therapeutics opens the doors to a world of opportunity, allowing access to hours of educational sessions and medical guidance and gives patients the time and attention they deserve. Technology also enables teams to manage and prioritise their patients remotely at a population level, using customised integrated consultation platforms.
Digital monitoring and personalised support offers easier access to care and helps hospitals better manage resources. Providing patients with rehabilitation and educational courses, as well as condition specific self-management and medicine optimisation tools to help support and manage their condition. This is a new approach to dispersed healthcare provision, enabling remote monitoring, and medication management which delivers better outcomes, improves patient engagement and decreases the burden on the NHS.
It is proven that technology is reshaping the delivery of care and is delivering better outcomes for patients. In utilising technology, and digital therapeutics, the gap between patient need and clinical capacity can be bridged to ensure an entire patient population has access to best-in-class care.
Article by Dr Simon Bourne, CEO and Founder, my mhealth