How On-Demand Care is Changing the Face of Healthcare

The shift to on-demand care is growing exponentially—a welcome trend in an industry that has primarily stayed the same for the past decade and is historically resistant to change. More than ever before, we are seeing players announce new programs and offerings daily that disrupt the idea of traditional care models. Big moves like the launch of Amazon Care and key trends focused around virtual care all point to the drastic expansion of healthcare’s entryway that we will continue to see in the coming years.

Providers’ rising adoption of on-demand models proves the site of care is no longer static, and increasingly revolves around the patients themselves, making the achievement of patient-centric care pivotal for providers’ success. To stay afloat in the evolving landscape come 2020 and beyond, we can expect to see continued adoption of on-demand trends and methods of care delivery to help achieve a more personalized and effective approach to medicine.

More Provider Adoption of On-Demand Trends

Care delivery trends, like virtual or at-home care, will climb the list of priorities for traditional healthcare providers this year. Notable offerings include the booming telemedicine market which is expected to grow to $64 billion in the U.S. over the next five years and the accompanying explosion of apps, virtual consults and health chatbots.

Emerging Tech Players Entering Healthcare

Technology behemoths will increasingly push their way into the healthcare and HIT market, all aiming to fix industry problems around convenience, continuity and care coordination. Like we’ve seen with Uber Health partnering with Cerner, Lyft’s healthcare-specific transportation service and the expansion of Best Buy’s Geek Squad to provide home health services and remote monitoring, the technology that has transformed the way we eat, shop and live will try to replicate its success in healthcare.

However, we must keep in mind that easy and convenient alone don’t always equate to better in healthcare. Coordinated care and provider transparency are pivotal in providing higher quality, lower cost care for patients, which companies from technology or consumer industries may not be equipped to address and achieve on their own.

Keeping Interoperability at the Forefront

As on-demand models and patient-centered care continue to increase, providers could face additional challenges around interoperability between HIT platforms and settings. The need for a single pane or holistic view of the full patient journey will be even more crucial as those journeys begin traveling across more touchpoints and data inputs. Establishing visibility and sharing data across an increasingly diverse and virtualized continuum will require seamless technology to keep providers connected.

It is imperative that as we see more touchpoints of care come into play, providers adopt connected or system-agnostic technology that keeps the industry from growing any more fragmented as a result.

About the Author: Matt Blosl, Chief Revenue Officer at Experity

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