The future of virtual health

By the year 2040, empowered consumers, radically interoperable data, and scientific and technological advances will transform the health care system we know today. Virtual health is a key component of our future of health vision. Virtual health has the capacity to inform, personalize, accelerate, and augment prevention and care.

In November 2019-January 2020, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions collaborated with the ATA (American Telemedicine Association), to survey and interview health care executives and find out how virtual health is likely to shape the health care landscape over the next two decades. Executives were from hospitals and health systems, health plans, medical device and technology companies, and virtual-health vendors that are members or partners of the ATA. Their areas of expertise included digital health, strategy, innovation and technology, business development, and medicine.

We found:

• Fifty percent of executives thought at least a quarter of all outpatient care, preventive care, long-term care, and well-being services would move to virtual delivery by 2040.
• Three out of four executives predicted that industrywide investments in virtual health would be significantly higher (more than 25 percent) over the next decade than today.
• Nearly all respondents (94 percent) expect that next-generation data and interoperability solutions will enable widespread data sharing; and 88 percent of executives predicted wearable devices will be integrated with care delivery, resulting in a more tailored, personalized virtual health experience for consumers.
• About two-thirds of surveyed executives thought that removing regulatory and payment barriers would accelerate virtual health adoption. Only 35 percent thought that new entrants would accelerate virtual health.
• Executives agreed that addressing the challenges around the drivers of health (also known as social determinants) would not be easy. Almost 75 percent of respondents expect the challenges related to the drivers of health will remain in the coming decades, regardless of a virtual-first system that could expand access to care.

Our research shows that virtual health is changing the industry landscape, and traditional health care business models will likely need to evolve to stay competitive and win over consumers and patients.

Virtual health gives health stakeholders and patients the ability to share data and content and perform personalized interactions remotely. This can allow for convenient, high-quality access to care that can enhance provider-patient interactions. In addition, virtual health-facilitated robotics and automation can help relieve clinicians of mundane, administrative, or routine tasks, giving them more opportunities to practice at the top of their license. For example, virtual assistants can handle appointment scheduling, prescription orders, and transcribing clinician notes automatically into the electronic medical record so that clinicians can spend more time treating and engaging in face-to-face interactions with their patients.

In our research, we defined virtual health as continuous, connected care delivered via digital and telecommunication technologies. It includes video visits and telemedicine, remote monitoring, asynchronous communication, medication adherence, and clinician or provider-facing solutions, such as virtual consults and virtual second opinions. Virtual health has the potential to touch the so-called four Cs that are critical to the success of consumer well-being and care delivery. It can drive:

• Continuity—agnostic of care setting (home, outpatient, or inpatient)
• Connectivity—encompassing asynchronous and synchronous modalities
• Coordination—linking all stakeholders (consumers to providers; providers to providers; consumers to life sciences companies, and more)
• Care continuum—from well-being to acute to postacute care

We think virtual health will be the near-default option for well-being and care in the future of health. But even today, virtual health has shown value in improving well-being and care delivery, along with better patient engagement and experience (figure 1).

Download the full Deloitte Center for Heath Solutions report to find out how virtual health might be used in the future of health.
 

Innovation starts with insight and seeing challenges in a new way. Amid unprecedented uncertainty and change across the health care industry, stakeholders are looking for new ways to transform the journey of care. Our US Health Care practice helps clients transform uncertainty into possibility and rapid change into lasting progress. Comprehensive audit, advisory, consulting, and tax capabilities can deliver value at every step, from insight to strategy to action. Our people know how to anticipate, collaborate, innovate, and create opportunity from even the unforeseen obstacle.

Learn more at www.deloitte.com/future.