Accenture Unveils Five Disruptive Healthcare IT Trends Set to Transform the Industry

“Patients will be able to care for themselves from now on, which not only reduces the burden on doctors but also yields better outcomes.” — Kaveh Safavi

First, this is not alarmist rhetoric: physicians who resist adopting new technologies are facing the imminent risk of being left behind by the times. Technological innovation is an unstoppable megatrend; whether you choose to embrace it or not, technology will continue to advance by leaps and bounds.

This conclusion is drawn from Accenture’s 2015 latest edition of the Healthcare Technology Report, which outlines five key industry trends that also represent the top five business models.

The first type, which analysts call a “revolutionary platform.”With the widespread adoption of mobile devices and cloud platforms, disease management will no longer be limited to real-time monitoring of patients’ health data. More importantly, it will enable broader interactive operations, allowing for the on-demand acquisition of health data from various sources such as wearable devices, smartphones, and glucometers. By integrating and consolidating all this information and transmitting it to both patients and healthcare providers, it empowers them to maintain a more comprehensive and real-time overview of the patient’s health status.

The second trend, the report emphasizes, concerns the “outcomes-based economy,” which places greater emphasis on the presentation and delivery of results.As is well known, smart hardware has ushered in a new era. In many cases, a simple tap of the patient’s fingertip can complete data measurement and display results, which undoubtedly brings great convenience to patients and ultimately leads to better outcomes.

The third category pertains to big data,The report refers to these as “intelligent enterprises,” implying that the “massive explosion of data” will bring unlimited opportunities for more effective analysis of clinical outcomes.

In fact, big data has become so vast that nearly 41% of healthcare professionals reported that the organizational and management workload associated with data volume increased by approximately 50% last year.

Accenture analysts also stated that this trend will unlock greater application value for Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data. Leveraging EMR information, it is even possible to predict the frequency and probability of patients’ emergency department visits. Furthermore, telemedicine will alleviate the burdens associated with in-person consultations; for instance, patients can obtain immediate diagnostic results by simply taking photos of their skin conditions with their mobile phones. In light of these changes, it is surprising to note that up to 72% of physicians will no longer use traditional Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems.

The fourth major trend, namely “My Internet” technology, primarily refers to personalized precision medicine.A growing number of healthcare institutions have made significant R&D efforts and investments in the field of precision medicine, yielding substantial results. According to surveys, over 73% of healthcare professionals report a favorable return on investment in this area.

The Last TrendMay cause unease in some individuals,Machine RevolutionWhether it will lead to large-scale layoffs and unemployment remains a matter of debate, prompting workers to contemplate their future prospects and career directions. Imagine a scenario where schedules are automatically arranged, electronic health records are shared, and disease management is handled autonomously. “Patients will be able to self-care from now on, which not only alleviates the burden on physicians but also yields better outcomes,” said Kaveh Safavi, Global Managing Director of Accenture’s Health practice, in the report. The integration of authentic medical records, machine training and intelligent learning, and connecting with physicians via social platforms opens up endless possibilities for imagination.

The report indicates that since 2020, 66% of the U.S. healthcare system has automated its scheduling processes. Nearly half of healthcare professionals emphasize that, over the next three years, they will devote half of their training efforts to training intelligent machines—specifically, by incorporating more algorithms and equipping them with intelligent software to achieve machine learning capabilities.

“In the future, patients are driving a reallocation and major transformation of the workforce, as they will become members of their own medical care teams—a reality made possible by technology.”

Compiled by Zhou Changling | Edited by Zhang Nan