How healthcare will change (at least in the US)

Access to physical and virtual care will be more available in future. Patients' journeys will be changed by using advanced technologies to enhance their wellness. This will lead to improved productivity and elimination of waste.

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Other industries have already evolved; now it is time for healthcare. This was the main theme of a healthcare conference, which was reported by the McKinsey consultancy company.

Social media and health

New applications make it possible to link more effectively clinical and behavioural data. Users of social media, together with doctors, can now better manage social determinants (factors such as diet or support systems, which have a considerable impact on an individual's health).

However, on social media misinformation is also spreading. The Chinese tech giant Tencent has some 100,000 new health-related articles every single day. Now there is a huge opportunity to find out how to secure the trust of users and help them evaluate what is and what is not trustworthy.

Start-ups in healthcare

Start-ups are willing to take risks and usually there is a charismatic leader present. However, start-ups also tend towards anchoring bias (in other words, they rely too heavily on the first piece of information received) and confirmation bias (believing past success guarantees success also in the future). Therefore, being better able to recognise these biases would lead to better decision making in many areas:

  • whom to hire
  • where to invest more money
  • daily management

Evolution: soon it will be about ecosystems

In order to serve vulnerable populations better, healthcare programmes (such as Medicaid) need the following innovations:

  • digital tools and advanced analytics
  • AI
  • agile methodologies

In healthcare, ecosystems will emerge, connecting:

  • payers
  • providers
  • pharmaceutical companies
  • MedTech and digital start-ups
  • state organs


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Article source McKinsey & Company - global management consulting firm
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