The future of healthcare is personalized.
With more choices than ever and easy access to services and products, healthcare customers, including patients, providers and caregivers, are favoring experiences that take into account their individual
The market is oversaturated with ‘one -size fits all’ solutions. What can make an offering more unique is its ability to provide a customized, tailored solution, validating customers’ needs and pain points.
Personalization:
Therapy options specific to an individual patient’s health history, lifestyle and genetics, for greater efficacy and easier provider decision-making.
For example, at Virginia Tech, scientists have developed a 3D tissue-engineered model of the glioblastoma tumor microenvironment that can be used to learn what treatments will be most effective in eradicating the tumors at a patient-specific level. The goal is to take a patient's tumor, build a model of it, test drugs on it, and advise a clinician around which therapy will work best.
Precision in Devices:
Customized manufacturing processes to enable quicker solutions for personalized healthcare outcomes.
For example, Medical devices manufactured with 3D printing offer personalization by custom printing products in smaller batches at lower costs. This can deliver higher dimensional accuracy for surgical teams looking to practice with synthetic organs, patient-specific anatomical models, or use personalized printed surgical instruments.
or rare conditions.
For example, Health insurance industry leaders Blue Cross and Blue Shield are offering new customized resources to help patients beyond the doctor’s office by supporting them in their complex cancer journeys. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has partnered with Robin Care to provide 24/7 support services and tools such as helping patients understand their diagnosis and treatments and support their health claims and clinical visits.
Specific trends that are shaping this megatrend include:
The future of healthcare is connected.
Despite having an abundance of connection platforms and solutions, human beings are more fragmented than ever due to accelerated change, and the overwhelming need to keep up with it all. The way we manage our relationships and lives has been subject to much more change over time, especially as we deal with constant influxes of information and ways to process that information. One relationship largely affect by this siloed reality is that of a patient and their care network, whether it be their healthcare providers or even manufacturers. Being an important relationship that affects the standard of care and resulting outcomes, unique efforts are underway to bridge this gap between patients and these stakeholders.
Using devices and wearables, providers can view, interpret and assess patients’ clinical data remotely.
For example, The Echoes app created by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Evelina Children’s Heart Organization (ECHO), measures heart sounds which can be processed further to obtain medically relevant data. Patients place their smartphone on their chest, pressing “record” - in which a signal processing algorithm filters the heart sound to remove background noise. HCPs can hear and analyze their patients’ heart sounds without clinic visits.
Using educational content and gamification to improve patient adherence.
For example, Sidekick Digital Therapeutics (DTx), a platform based on gamified health apps, helps patients modify behaviours and adhere to therapy through CBT principles and gamification strategies. It is already in use supporting drug therapies in areas such as atopic dermatitis and breast cancer.
Drug manufacturers are focused on creating organic, social relationships with patients.
For example, Johnson & Johnson's SHARE Network program asks patients to recount their health stories—and explain how a drug from its Janssen unit changed their lives, using all types of medium, from speaking engagements to written testimonials to videos for branded and unbranded campaigns.
Specific trends that are shaping this megatrend include:
The future of healthcare is inclusive.
Growing intolerance towards discriminatory practices, and greater awareness and expression of inclusivity through all forms of media (social media, journalism, research, pop culture, art) has paved the way for inclusivity to be a strong pillar in every space.
We live in a world where we are regularly exposed to the disparities felt by minority groups and individuals. The healthcare space is no exception, whether it be poor access to services or bias shown by stakeholders. Therefore, it will only become more crucial to create opportunities, products, and spaces for those who feel overshadowed, unaccepted, or unacknowledged in this evolving health system.
With growing cultural consciousness and knowledge of racial inequities, new organizations are supporting POC as ways to go beyond barriers.
For example, 4D Healthware, is a Black-led virtual healthcare service provider that works with Federally Qualified Health Centers to reach medically underserved patients. Specifically patients who don’t have time to see a doctor during normal hours, or those who fear discrimination if they go to a medical facility.
Accessible and Universal Design Principles:
Accessibility standards are front and center in the design, development and implementation of healthcare technologies in order to make them usable by all.
For example, University of Illinois, non profit partners from Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are pledging to shape the future of accessible technologies by expanding speech recognition capabilities for people with disabilities and diverse speech patterns using AI and machine learning.
Closing the Gender ap i Male focused Therapeutic Areas:
Increasing calls to action to prioritize women's cardiovascular care are being announced by key healthcare stakeholders and organizations.
For example, The American Heart Association (AHA) has released a call to action for stakeholders around the globe to identify and remove barriers that women face in cardiovascular care. This is relevant across all aspects of the therapeutic area, whether it be representation in research, understanding of sexspecific risk factors, or equitable care delivery at access points.
Specific trends that are shaping this megatrend include:
The future of healthcare consists of new and evolving stakeholder roles.
Increasing worker burnout, growing staff shortages, rising expenses, complex technological advances and the need for more advocacy are all contributing to the shifting roles of providers. Some are taking on completely new roles to manage technology, while others are taking on new responsibilities in their current roles to keep up the standard of care. In the coming years, we can expect to see job descriptions and organizational structures in the healthcare space transform in a substantial way.
Nurses are becoming the bridge between new technology and patients, teaching them new digital forms of disease management.
For example, the role of Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) is gaining more traction and becoming an integral part of the system. This role helps set the strategy for the use of technology and data to enhance clinical processes and improve patient outcomes.
Shortages of providers during the pandemic has shifted pharmacist roles, with more and more patients expecting increased involvement in their health management from their pharmacists.
For example, a report conducted by Columbia University found that patients trust pharmacists to play a greater role in providing their care. With 80% of patients seeing pharmacists as a key component of their care, pharmacists are currently deemed the most accessible part of healthcare, shifting from transactional care to direct patient care responsibilities.
In addition to logistical care, caregivers are increasingly standing up for the patients in their lives and providing an intimate understanding of the patient community.
For example, Canadian rare disease patient advocate Beth Vanstone is the primary caregiver for her daughter, cystic fibrosis (CF) warrior Madi Vanstone. She has also been fighting hard for the CF community and rare disease patients for the past decade in an effort to get life-saving medications they need.
Specific trends that are shaping this megatrend include
The future of healthcare will center around intelligent technology.
Tech innovation in healthcare has been expanding beyond hospital equipment and telehealth, and it will only continue to do so. We are constantly bombarded with new inventions and research, whether it be new modes of medication administration, digital diagnosis and monitoring tools, or the use of augmented/virtual reality for various clinical tasks and surgical procedures. The most prominent innovation of all, has been the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to track, filter, and gather real-world patient or clinical data to produce detailed insights about care experiences.
From vaccines to inhalers, the ways in which therapies are applied in the future are shifting towards easier, more efficient and less invasive modes.
For example, researchers at Georgia Tech have been working on microneedle patches to deliver vaccines for flu and measles. These microneedle patches are made out of water-soluble materials. Once they penetrate the skin, they dissolve, releasing the substance inside of them, making administration easier and pain-free.
Augmented Reality is the New Clinical Partner:
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are not only being used as layers of simulation, but are fueling innovation in clinical practice, trials, device testing and manual operations.
For example, Philips’ augmented reality surgical navigation solution - ClarifEye - combines 2D and 3D visualizations to support surgeons while navigating critical and precise device placement during spinal surgeries.
iagnosis and onitoring
Tools for Rare Diseases:
Powered by AI-algorithms, sophisticated tools are being developed to identify markers of certain conditions using diagnostics data and symptom descriptions.
For example, Johnson and Johnson has developed 3 SmartTech Tools to help diagnose and track the rare condition Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), including an algorithm that helps to identify connective tissue disorder patients who are at high risk of PAH, another algorithm that gleans insights from echocardiograms to identify diagnostic markers, and a risk calculator that tracks progression.
Specific trends that are shaping this megatrend include
Personalization sources
https: www.sciencedaily.co releases 2022 08 22080 8 02 .ht
https: www.todays edicaldevelop ents.co news healthcare-personalization-3dprintin g- edical-device- anufacturing
https: www.bcbs.co the-health-of-a erica articles new-care- odels-helpcancer-patie nts-navigate-co plex-journeys
Connectivity sources
https: www. edicalnewstoday.co articles could-a-phone-app-beco e-an-easyat-ho e-heart- onitor#
https: phar aphoru .co news ypso ed-brings-sidekick-on-board-to-fight-selfinjectio n-anxiety
https: www.share yjanssenstory.co
Inclusivity sources
https: www.fiercehealthcare.co health-tech industry-voices-why-now-ti einclusive-he alth-invest en
https: speechaccessibilityproject.beck an.illinois.edu article 2022 0 03 universityof-illi nois-joins-five-technology-industry-leaders-in-new-speech-accessibility-projec
https: www.ahajournals.org doi 0.
Changing Roles sources
CIR.000000000000 07
https: www.nursinginpractice.co views digital-nurse-leaders-are-vital-to-thefuture-of-pr i ary-care
https: www.specialtyphar acycontinuu .co Online-First Article -2
Phar acists-Ro le-Will-Expand-A id-Pande ic-Provider-Shortages 582
https: toronto.ctvnews.ca obile ontario-fa ily-forced-to-fight-for-life-saving-drughighlig hts-need-for-national-rare-disease-strategy- .58 9037?
cache=pi nd vkh 7. 8 03
Intelligent Health sources
https: www.npr.org sections health-shots 202 05 27 00 005379 a-vaccinepatch-coul d-so eday-be-an-ouchless-opti
https: www.philips.co a-w about news archive standard news press 2022 2022 0 3-p hilips-expands-rollout-of-its-clarifeye-aug ented-realitysurgical-navigation-solution-to-ja pan.ht
https: www.jnj.co innovation 3-tools-to-help-diagnose-pul onary-arterialhypertensio
