If one industry is set to survive, perhaps even thrive, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is digital health, says HealthcareMarkets UK. In an article summarising the findings of LaingBuisson’s latest Digital Health market report, it claims that 2020 marked a step-change in the adoption of remote healthcare services – much of which could stick. But the biggest tech winner in 2020? The 170-year-old telephone.
LaingBuisson’s latest research reveals that more digital healthcare technology is being used now than ever before, presenting massive opportunities for providers to transform services and for investors seeking growth markets at a time when traditional asset-backed industries are going to the wall.
Findings from the Digital Health UK Market Report 2020 saw an increase in central NHS spending on digital health across all four nations in the UK, especially in England. NHS X, in particular, awarded a number of contracts centrally including for video consultations, data gathering and analysis – as well as the less successful NHS contact tracing app. NHS Digital has also signed a national deal with Microsoft for Office 365, including the collaboration platform MS Teams, following in the footsteps of Wales.
‘In terms of technology and the NHS, the Covid-19 pandemic means many things have changed,’ says report author Martin Bell. ‘Not because every problem has been fixed. Not because every technology has been adopted. Not because everyone is using technology either as clinicians or other NHS staff, or as patients. And not because the NHS has suddenly shifted every service to being digital that possibly should be. It’s because the mindset has altered. The pre-pandemic behaviours have shown they can adjust. Walls of fear or simple obstruction around technology have been shown to be breachable.’
However, although necessity has shown that change can happen at speed, even in digital healthcare where information governance and data protection have historically acted as
significant barriers, adoption and take up remains variable.
The average UK health organisation spends just 2% per annum on IT. This figure is closer to 8% in the US and most of Northern Europe. While there has been investment in video consultations and data gathering and analysis, not to mention the Covid-19 contact tracing app, there has been a downturn in spending on technology without immediate relevance to the pandemic during 2020. And despite some notable exceptions, private hospitals have yet to fully embrace how digital health could help them grow and re-imagine their businesses.
‘We heard a cacophony of noise on social and mainstream media about the rise of video consultations – and there were some notable exemplars – but actually, official NHS Digital data shows a decline in actual GP appointments done by video consultation (to virtually 0.25%), and private data I’ve seen suggests some areas of the country that successfully scaled up, still only did around 2% of appointments via video. In terms of doctor/patient interactions, the 170-year-old telephone was the big winner in 2020 and perhaps with good
reason. It is cheap, simple and, importantly, it is accessible,’ says Bell.
Some areas have seen significant take up of non-video based online consultation and triage services while the pandemic has also led to a huge rise in video conferencing for internal side meetings.
In addition, there has been increased demand for at-home diagnostic testing, remote physio triage services, clinical chat bots to support Covid-19 decision making and remote monitoring at home.
However, Bell says that some digital providers who on the face of it appear well placed to take advantage of and contribute to the Covid-19 response have struggled to gain traction. ‘As some of the digital landscape fallout from the pandemic starts to become clear, investment opportunities may gain more clarity, both in the UK and globally. But this will not be without risk, as some who invested pre-pandemic may see, from the way certain technology markets, such as video consultations, have developed and the way technology has or has not been adopted at pace.’
Nevertheless, he believes the next decade will present massive growth opportunities for digital healthcare as adoption continues to accelerate and the market matures.
To read the full article about the report findings, visit HealthcareMarkets UK.
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