Healthcare landscape has seen large-scale transformation in post-Covid times: Report

The country’s healthcare landscape has seen large-scale transformation in post-Covid times with deployment of digital technologies, a PwC report on healthcare trends in a post-pandemic world has noted.The report has highlighted how increased focus on digitalisation has helped in accelerating contactless healthcare and faster decision-making. According to it, technological innovations have further helped patients and consumers to understand diseases better and subsequently, demand higher-quality services.

There has been a clear shift from brick-and-mortar healthcare centres to virtual-first care during the pandemic, the report has noted, adding that there has also been a transition from medication to holistic addressable adjacencies, thereby disrupting traditional pharma practices.

According to the report, digital as a lever is unlocking agility and helping players move up the value chain across the sustainable well-being spectrum, faster than ever before. The telemedicine model of the past is now becoming a full-stack virtual care model, it has said.

Commenting on the study, Rana Mehta, partner and leader healthcare, PwC India, said, “Voice-based AI will bring in the next big transformation in healthcare. Such a technological advancement would enhance the upstream value of the healthcare framework and further usher in the ambient era of VUI. Consumer demand, innovation in technology, and enablers are driving alternative models of care and transforming the healthcare landscape.”

As per the report, contactless care is gaining ample momentum and the focus is moving towards reducing and optimising the number of touchpoints between the health system and health seeker, without losing the quality of care.

This new need to optimise steps has resulted in deep minimalism — a concept closely associated with the ability of a system to simplify steps without compromising with quality. This includes decision support to virtual treatment enablement, single engagement with multiple touchpoints, telemedicine to teletherapy and graphical user interface (GUI) to voice user interface (VUI). The ecosystem has enabled access to quality healthcare through digital health, open network and open protocols, the report has said.

According to the report, consumer preferences are driving the evolution of healthcare delivery models, which creates added value for all the players in the ecosystem, be it capturing of data to use of insights engines and advanced analytics. The pandemic’s impact compelled healthcare organisations to rethink, reprioritise and reengineer the business models.