Is it time to drop the 'digital' from digital health?

I read a report recently that suggested that the pandemic had accelerated a ‘cashless society’ by up to 35 years. Last week at the Digital Health World Congress in London we heard that digital healthcare had seen a similar transitional and societal change.

Pre pandemic 90% of patient data was captured via hospital touchpoints, with only 10% of patients using telehealth. Today 70% of healthcare data can be collected remotely, with more than 75% of patients happy to use telehealth as part of a package of care. This high level of patient ‘buy-in’ has inevitably been driven by necessity, but conference attendees were encouraged to ‘drop the digital’ and consider digital solutions as an integral part of future healthcare solutions – ‘build for the future and not just the now.’

Global Health Insight predicts the Digital Health Market will be worth $600B by 2026 and a key theme of the day was an acceptance of the societal change in thinking from ‘sick care’ to ‘health care'. The world is full of health monitoring apps, but the real value of these will come when the data is shared with primary and secondary healthcare providers and used to treat the whole person and not just the presenting condition. The age of experimentation with Digital Health is over. The pandemic has forced digital acceptance and presented the opportunity to realise the potential of connected health.

There are challenges of course. Not least the challenges in connectivity in rural areas and ‘institutional lethargy’ to adapt. Speakers warned of a lack of Digital Health Champions within the NHS with some suggesting that Clinicians should have digital skills integrated into their training to allow them to gain cross-functional skills and an ability to integrate with developers and innovators, to ensure they start with the problem and consider the patient and their experience as a whole. Digital Healthcare must be technology-enabled care. The human element needs to be considered at each stage and speakers were unanimous in the importance of putting the patient at the centre of care to ensure compliance, acceptance, and adoption.

Patient care and health economics go hand in hand in driving healthcare change and we need to ensure that technology does not further alienate those already socially disadvantaged in society. Affordability for the NHS is essential, particularly as our ageing population grows. But digital can offer real solutions – for the 87% of patients with rehabilitation conditions, telehealth could facilitate the ability to provide continuous care and reduce strain on clinics and clinical time.

Over the two days, we heard from amazing companies developing mind-blowing healthcare technologies. In my previous roles I’ve worked with VR and AI-enabled businesses developing digital twins, but never had I considered digital twinning humans to undertake in silico clinical trials (faster, more accurate and without the need for animal testing?). Speakers articulated the power of these innovative technologies in identifying those vulnerable to challenging conditions with the ability to place responsibility on the patient to make lifestyle changes to better manage the risk. However, I wonder, in the future will those identified as being ‘at risk’ from heart conditions, cancer and other life-threatening conditions struggle to access products such as life insurance?

Security of data, regulatory concerns, and the capability of tech platforms to manage and store data effectively were seen as the biggest concerns across the TechBio community, but I couldn’t help but wonder where ‘ethics’ stand in this list? It was a thought-provoking few days and the benefits of connected health care are clear to see, but regulatory and ethical frameworks are essential for trust – I mean, just because we can, does that mean we should? I’m interested to hear your thoughts…