Digital health is a booming business, projected to be worth $230 billion by 2020. 2018 is set to be an explosive time for digital health, which is one of the fastest growing and most innovative sectors in the world.
Technology has a huge aspect on the lives of human beings, from the way we pay for things, communicate, book holidays, and now technology enables us to live longer and healthier lives.
From AI, chatbots, surgical robots to mobile technology and wearable technology, over the course of 2017 investments in software and service already increased, as healthcare professionals and patients become accustomed to preventing and managing illnesses via digital technologies.
The investment into digital health also promotes wellbeing, and is about creating a better human experience and quality of care for everyone, in new and exciting ways.
Dr Yossi Bahagon is the managing partner of OurCrowd Qure, Isreal’s first exclusively focused digital health fund, which is a fully digitalised healthcare system.
“Patient-centric platforms using big-data tools to improve quality of care, efficiency and transparency are at the essence of all the systems being developed,” Bahagon said.
Bahagon’s predictions for digital health breakthroughs in the near future are: medication personalisation, personalised disease management, and pain reduction using digital health tools.
The future of digital health is likely to include many more decision tree-based algorithms, AI, AR and VR technologies incorporated into digital healthcare systems, health assistants or chatbots that are more pro-active, and can provide expert wellbeing advice and information, as well as be able to diagnose, or signpost to a specialist consultant.
The huge digital health disruption has been addressed by the NHS and the government, in the 2020 vision framework ‘Personalised Health and Care 2020’, which aims to use data and technology to transform outcomes for patients and citizens.
The developments which the framework sets out are needed to reshape the health and care system are: the personalisation of care, the development of new models of care and integration of services, more effective management of service access, and the reshaping of the workforce.
The framework enables frontline staff, patients and citizens to take better advantage of the digital opportunity. The thing to remember is that the technology will not replace traditional healthcare methods, but support and improve them.
