The Post-COVID World is Reinventing Health Care
Though the global pandemic is far from over, health care industry analysts are recognising how the fight against COVID-19 has ushered in new opportunities for accelerating innovation and dramatically altering health care. “The pandemic has been a powerful catalyst for change,” comments David T. Youssef, VUMI® Global Managing Director for the Middle East, Africa and Asia. “We are seeing shifting consumer preferences and behaviour, new care delivery models and digital health technologies evolving at warp speed.”
Bold Advances in Providing and Receiving Care
“We are witnessing an important new blend of inpatient and home-based care. Patients and their families are becoming active participants in their own care by embracing advanced digital tools, including trackers and monitors. ‘Always On’ biosensors are truly personalising medicine and enabling both real-time care interventions and behavioural ‘nudges.’ Opening access to medical data opens the door for patients to get a clearer picture of their health. Receiving health information on smart phones, interpreting over-the-counter tests – these are all new technologies impacting the health care landscape.
mRNA Technologies have Burst Onto the Scene
“I cannot overstate the impact of mRNA therapeutics,” says David. “Of course, these revolutionised vaccines. But now, ongoing research is also exploring whether this technology can be used to develop cancer vaccines, or, as just one example, protein-replacement therapy for hemophilia. By February 2021, there were more than 520 clinical trials testing mRNA therapeutics across more than 20 disease categories. This is absolutely revolutionary.”
Health Insurers Must Plan to Bring New Technologies to Insureds
Technological innovation has always shaped health care. But the post-COVID world has seen medical technology shift into overdrive. “Health care insurers have an obligation to quickly embrace new technologies,” David concludes. “It’s our job – and our privilege – as industry professionals to ensure our companies make these new technologies affordable and accessible.”
Source: Deloitte 2022 Global Health Care Outlook
