Healthcare is in the midst of a shift never before seen. Information and technology are advancing at rates faster than our ability to adapt. Changing healthcare, along with social forces such as the health 2.0 movement, are redefining the role of the doctor and patient. But we are effectively unprepared to deal with what lies ahead.
Changing healthcare, in the Digital Age will map out the challenges and opportunities facing healthcare in the networked age. We will explore the role of social media in healthcare communication, the uses of wearable technologies, the potential for big data to reshape health behaviors, the ethics of personalized medicine, and the impact of these new developments on the doctor-patient relationship. Participants will gain an understanding of the connected health revolution and tools to critically analyze this evolving ecosystem. Medicine in the Digital Age will launch a fresh conversation about what the future of medicine should be, and how we should get there.
Understanding the changes in a patient’s journey is mission-critical.
The ways in which patients make decisions has completely changed. According to an article first published in the Harvard Business Review on the new CEO-CMO alliance, people use an average of six different channels to make a purchase decision. They do more comparison shopping, they self-diagnose more, and seek the opinions of others as never before — simply because the technology allows them to do so.
Often, our millennial and tech savvy patients come to the office and have already “self-diagnosed” themselves. If they’re experiencing an ocular symptom, they’ve gone online, looked it up and have specific questions to ask when they come in. They have ideas about what it could be and want to have a conversation with the ophthalmologist. I think this level of patient engagement and interest in their own eye care is a really positive thing, as long as they don’t use Google as a replacement for professional care.
In addition to more streamlined, efficient medical practice operation, doctors want technology to make things better for patients. There’s no question that medical technology has advanced the practice of medicine in tremendously important ways, but again, it takes time beyond research and publication to determine which technologies make a real difference and are worth the investment of time and other resources.
A significant factor driving this experiential change is the entry of non-traditional healthcare companies into the marketplace, and the introduction of highly-disruptive health technologies like connected wearables, remote monitoring, virtual and augmented reality, AI for diagnostics and personalized pharmaceuticals. Technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple are entering the healthcare marketplace at a rapid pace, for they understand that the consumerization of healthcare has left the marketplace wide open for companies that understand customer engagement.
Putting consumers first and creating certain transparency in communication can go a long way in building trust. Tailoring operations and processes with the customer need in mind rather than the other way round will help share the customer experience. Communicating upfront the details of health decisions, cost details, and other procedures can help customers feel confident about your company and choose you over other healthcare providers.
