FORBES INNOVATION

A Vision Of Healthcare 3.0

Forbes
TechnologyRanjan Singh Former Forbes Councils Member
Council Forbes Technology Council COUNCIL POST | Membership (Fee-Based)

Jun 1, 2022, 07:00am EDT

Ranjan Singh is co-founder and CEO of HealthHero.

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Healthcare is entering its third evolutionary stage. According to a report by

Deloitte, the primary focus during the first stage was on institutions; medical
providers were the "source of ultimate reference." The second stage saw a
greater focus on doctors, with medical providers seen as having a more advisory
role on health matters. Today, the patient is at the heart of everything, able to
access information and advice from a range of sources and often determining
their own health outcome.

Healthcare 3.0, as this current stage is known, is a forward-looking aspiration

for a world in which healthcare is transformed by digital solutions: a patient-
centric world where healthcare is convenient and seamless.

Connecting The Dots

To successfully achieve the ideals of Healthcare 3.0, every touchpoint in the
healthcare ecosystem—from practitioners and their staff to the digital
monitoring and reporting devices used by patients—needs to be connected. If
all of these were to operate in their own individual silos, as can often be the
case, it can be difficult for patients to navigate an already complex healthcare
system and access the information or care they need in a timely or effective way.

Indeed, accessing the correct care on the first attempt will not only make the
whole process simpler for the patient but also improve outcomes and reduce
inefficiencies in the healthcare system. In today's always-on world, people
should be able to access the care they need at a time and place, and via a
channel, that best suits them. Some health problems, for example, will require a
face-to-face doctor's appointment, while others can be dealt with over the
phone. Others still, such as renewing a prescription, could be easily handled
using an online chat tool or automated form.

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It's important, then, for everyone in the ecosystem to better connect the dots.
By customizing healthcare to the individual, people will enjoy interactions and
treatments that are based more on their specific healthcare data and needs.

Transforming Healthcare

A large part of the vision for Healthcare 3.0 is enabling more preventative care.
As it stands, the healthcare system is largely reactionary, or, to use a technical
term, episodic. You're unhealthy, you get ill, you go to the hospital for
treatment, and so the cycle continues.

The future of healthcare, however, will be less episodic and more reliant on
preventative care. Rather than waiting until they're really ill before seeking
help, patients should be empowered to manage their own care through a range
of appropriate digital tools. The benefits to the patient are clear—quite simply,
they won't be ill so often.

This approach will have a transformative effect on the healthcare industry, too.
Providing high-quality, remote alternatives alleviates pressure on the
healthcare system, shifting care out of the hospital and into the community,
freeing up beds and reducing the need for unnecessary hospital and GP visits.

Technology is key to delivering this vision of digitizing the connections between

different care systems and directing patients toward the right care. Digital
triage tools act as a "front door" to the healthcare system. Directing patients to
the right practitioner or form of treatment, they provide access via a range of
communication tools, such as live chat, smart questionnaires, video and phone
consultations and asynchronous communications in which there is a delay
between a question and the response.

Reducing the burden on in-person care by providing avenues for remote

consultations and more effectively triaging patients to the most appropriate
care pathway, such tools serve the dual purpose of marrying increased
efficiency for healthcare systems with delivering an improved user experience.

The Power Of AI

In common with digital transformation efforts across many other industries,

artificial intelligence has an important part to play in the future of healthcare.
There are AI-powered diagnostic tools either in development or already on the
market that are capable of analyzing video footage and speech to identify
everything from heart arrhythmias to patient sentiment.

The data that comes from this analysis could prove invaluable in aiding
clinicians in their interactions with patients, informing their diagnostic and
treatment courses for greater accuracy and efficacy. AI-powered healthcare
solutions, for example, can rapidly detect issues and notify a patient's care
teams, enabling them to discuss options and make critical treatment decisions
more quickly.

But as advanced as the technology becomes, AI will not be a substitute for a

human practitioner. Even when using the most sophisticated technology,
clinicians will be a vital part of the healthcare system. They will be involved in
every layer of the technology's creation and rollout, from advising the
development teams and helping with quality regulation and governance to
being connected with the end users seeking care.

Importantly, though, they won't stop offering personal advice and support to
the people who need it most: their patients. Simply put, AI will augment
doctors, not replace them. This change in the healthcare system will enable it to
run more effectively and efficiently.
The difference with Healthcare 3.0, however, is that now doctors will be
optimized and empowered by a more straightforward system and by digital
tools that will help with diagnosis, patient treatment and care. Healthcare is
evolving. By using technology to reimagine the current healthcare system and
consequently transform it, we are providing patients with easy access to a range
of choices and pathways. This puts those seeking medical treatment at the heart
of their own care—when, where and how they want it.

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Ranjan
Singh Ranjan Singh

Ranjan Singh is co-founder and CEO of HealthHero.

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