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Focus on Wellness First, Invigorated by Innovative Technologies

Traditionally healthcare has revolved around treating illness, but what if the focus changed to staying healthy? What may seem like a subtle shift has major implications for healthcare. The growing aging population worldwide, the increasing number of people with chronic conditions, expanded regulatory requirements, insufficient healthcare resources and rising costs are all burdening today’s health system and creating the impetus for major changes.

A new CSC report, “The Future of Healthcare: It’s Health, Then Care,” (PDF, 4.10 MB)  examines the renewed priority on helping people stay healthy, and the emerging practices and technologies being used to detect and treat medical problems sooner – all with the ultimate goal of achieving better health outcomes. The report, by CSC’s Leading Edge Forum (LEF)¹, identifies five key trends that are shifting the industry’s focus.

“When we began our research, we wanted to identify the major trends that are disrupting healthcare to address its current problems, and then investigate the emerging technologies that facilitate these trends,” says Fran Turisco, who led the research effort as CSC’s 2010 LEF Associate² and is an Emerging Practices research principal with CSC’s Global Healthcare Services Group.

The first trend, “E-Power to the Patient,” discusses patients taking increasing responsibility for managing their wellness and health. The Internet and the smartphone are key technologies for assisting the patient, with thousands of applications (apps) offered for free or a small investment. The issue becomes one of selecting the right technologies and applications that suit the patient’s health status and lifestyle.

“Everyone knows they should have a healthy lifestyle, but knowing what to do and which tools to use can be overwhelming,” says Turisco. Social networking sites, for example, enable people to connect with others who have the same medical issue, such as obesity, diabetes, or hypertension, to share specific problems, and discuss treatment options and available resources. More than 5,800 smartphone apps are already on the market, providing medical content, capturing patient information, and sending messages and alerts – all of which helps patients manage diets, medications, and health goals. When coupled with simple medical devices, such as a Band-Aid-like heart rate sensor that transmits data wirelessly to a smartphone, managing health gets easier.

Detecting illness earlier

The second trend, “Earlier Detection,” discusses how emerging technologies can diagnose illness sooner, thereby reducing the amount of damage the illness causes and, at times, eliminating the illness altogether.

“When designing computer applications, if you can detect a design problem early on in the project, you can implement a change more quickly using fewer resources to keep the project on track,” says Turisco. “It’s true in healthcare, too.”

The report cites numerous detection technologies currently under development, including a breath test that uses nanotechnology to detect cancer, an at-home sleep apnea monitoring device, and a smart contact lens with an embedded microchip that monitors for glaucoma. Paper-based inexpensive diagnostic tests have also been developed that can be widely distributed and used by large numbers of people, especially in developing countries. By making tests more affordable and more convenient to use, more people are likely to use them and detect diseases earlier, when they are less expensive, complex, and time-consuming to treat.

High-Tech healing

Regardless of how healthy a lifestyle people follow, or how much testing they perform, people will become ill. The report’s third trend, “High-Tech Healing,” covers how new breakthroughs in combining medicine with technology are enabling people to improve medical conditions such as blindness and epilepsy, and better manage chronic conditions.

Diabetes, for example, is a significant health concern worldwide. The International Diabetes Federation estimates diabetes will affect up to 438 million by 2030. Managing the disease is a lifestyle change and requires close monitoring of glucose levels. The report cites developments such as a special tattoo and a rice-sized implantable microchip that will be able to monitor glucose levels, and an artificial pancreas that could potentially monitor and correct glucose levels.

An evolving care team

The evolution and faster emergence of such high-tech devices will help stanch the escalating drain on medical resources; however, it won’t be enough to eliminate it. In fact, when discussing the fourth trend, “Resources: More, but Different,” the report says new care models to support increasing demand are evolving that include a team of care resources, each with specific roles and responsibilities.

“Healthcare organizations must be learning organizations, using the data they are collecting to make changes in practices to provide better, more efficient, and effective care,” says Dr. Harald Deutsch, vice president for CSC’s healthcare sector in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Using a care-team approach requires that all members share data and communicate, and technology can be a team member, too. According to the report, robots will play an increasingly prominent role on the care team as the technology matures. The “Huggable” teddy bear, in development, can provide real-time data on a child’s status, and the “Kompaï R&D” robot provides in-home assistance, including communication.

Another aspect of the new care model is “e-visits,” which range from email and cell phone communication to Webcam conferences. The key is using whatever is available to gather data, analyze findings, and provide care wherever it is needed. For example, in remote, poor regions, volunteer community healthcare workers use cell phones to track and care for pregnant women in their villages.

As the world continues to connect, healthcare systems are becoming increasingly linked across states, nations and world regions, as noted in the report’s fifth trend, “Global Healthcare Ecosystem Emerges.” By developing the ability to safely share both patient and research data, the health community ensures that the number of people focused on problems, and the potential for better outcomes, will increase.

A richer information environment, which is an important means to this ability to share data, “is taking shape as a network of networks enhanced by a variety of initiatives starting to connect the dots,” says the report. For example, the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working together on a Global Public Health Grid to improve public health.

Connecting the dots, not only by linking networks but by linking care givers – professional, family, and technology-based – with innovative diagnostic and healing tools, draws together an industrial-strength support system for people, offering a new potential for staying well.

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¹ CSC’s Leading Edge Forum (LEF) provides clients with access to a knowledge base and global network of innovative thought leaders. LEF members work to spot key emerging business and technology trends, and identify specific practices for exploiting those trends for business advantage.

² LEF Associates, chosen by the LEF for their strong technology, business, and leadership skills, lead the research and analysis for LEF Reports and participate in LEF programs, giving associates a broad view of the marketplace and a global perspective across CSC.