PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute has released its annual report outlining projected issues the healthcare industry is expected to face in the upcoming year. This year's list includes three IT-related issues: mobile health, cybersecurity and data analysis.
1. Mobile health. In 2016, more than ever, patients are expected to utilize mobile health tools. PwC calls this "handheld medicine." From 2013 to 2015, the percentage of consumers with at least one medical, fitness or health app on their mobile devices more than doubled from 13 percent to 32 percent.
PwC attributes this rise partly to the prevalence of smartphones and also to the shift to a fee-for-value reimbursement structure, as providers are seeking to expand population health efforts and engage more with patients.
The rise in handheld medicine may have three key implications. First, remote regions and emerging markets will likely be hotbeds for innovation. "Necessity is the mother of invention, and innovative uses of connected tools will come out of remote and emerging regions," according to the report.
Secondly, healthcare organizations should consider integrating virtual medicine into their long-term strategic plans. This may include reconsidering long-term capital investments and instead opting for decentralized investments like "bedless" hospitals, where organizations can deliver care remotely.
Finally, the move to digital health may create new roles as the industry develops new needs. "There will be a need to evaluate tools with security, privacy and risk in mind. Connected tools will create fresh links to industries that rarely interact with healthcare such as retail, financial services and hospitality — and generate opportunities to plug in," according to the report.
2. Cybersecurity and medical technology. Not only is cybersecurity a concern surrounding electronic health records, but as medical devices increasingly become connected to the Internet, the data they store creates a risk around medical device cybersecurity. In 2015, the government issued a warning that certain infusion pumps may be hacked and maliciously modified to alter medication dosage, the consequences of which could be fatal. Additionally, access to a medical device could open access to a hospital's entire network.
As such, PwC indicates device manufacturers need to be proactive about conducting routine security assessments to review potential device vulnerabilities, and providers need to ensure connected devices are always updated, protected behind firewalls and are stored on networks separate from key medical and personal data. This, according to the report, will be a challenge for interoperability, but vital to security.
Vendors who adopt these strong security protocols may have an advantage as new entrants in the market, according to PwC. "New entrants can benefit by adopting best security practices from the outset, thereby avoiding the need for costly upgrades," according to the report. "As drug companies use apps to boost adherence, security breaches could affect companies' sales, reputations and patients."
3. Big data and data analytics. PwC predicts 2016 will see a surge of "non-relational" databases, meaning databases that can analyze different forms of data together. These databases are different from traditional relational databases, such as EHRs, that organize data into columns and spreadsheets in predetermined categories. "While these databases are ideal for information that is easily structured, they cannot handle information such as clinician notes, transcripts and other unstructured data as easily," according to the report.
The rise of these non-traditional databases will boost the value of EHR systems, as they provide more flexible and in-depth data modeling and analytical techniques. However, the use of such databases requires patient participation, which a PwC survey suggests won't be too much of an issue: 73 percent of consumers said they would be willing to share their medical records with a health system to help the diagnosis and treatment of others.
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