How we can emerge stronger from the crisis
It seems like a lifetime ago, but there was a time before the crisis. We have probably all waited for hours in the outpatient clinic of a hospital or a doctor’s waiting room and thought to ourselves: surely there must be a better way? However, thanks to Covid situations like these could soon belong to the past.
The crisis as the accelerating force
Since the start of the pandemic, life has become more distant. While this is affecting every aspect of our life there is no doubt that the shockwaves of COVID-19 are presenting the health system with the greatest challenge in decades. Yet, where there is shadow there must also be light and this is certainly true for the current crisis: The digitalization of healthcare has been accelerated in ways unimaginable just about two years ago. In a recent study by Deloitte, medical staff in seven European countries were surveyed about the topic. The result: digital technologies are currently used especially for administrative and planning tasks. First and foremost is the electronic health record (EHR), which is used by 77% of those surveyed and is predominantly evaluated positively. Digital duty rosters and specific apps for hospital staff have also found their way into everyday life.
The findings also show that those who have already relied on digital innovation before the pandemic were quicker to jump on the bandwagon and subsequently able to benefit more from it. At the same time, the pandemic has made it clear where improvements, investments, or restructuring are needed. Numerous studies by McKinsey, Bertelsmann, and others demonstrate how great the benefits for the health system can actually be. All of them agree that the digitalization of healthcare can help to improve quality and access, reduce inefficiencies and costs, and increase the well-being of all involved.
The use of technologies such as smartphones, wearables, and social networks is not only changing the way we communicate, but also providing innovative ways to monitor our health and giving us better access to trusted information. Together, these advances are leading to a convergence of people, information, technology, and connectivity to sustainably improve healthcare and health outcomes.
Successful digitalization through collaboration
One thing seems certain: tomorrow’s healthcare will be based on collaborative ecosystems and will be increasingly geared to the individual needs of patients. According to a recent survey by Roland Berger of more than 500 health experts around the world, global spending on digital health is expected to reach EUR 979 billion by 2025. The majority of those surveyed also assume that the pandemic will accelerate the overall development by at least 2 years.
It is therefore essential that the analog and digital worlds increasingly merge. Patients expect more and more frictionless transitions and a similar user experience in the health system as they have with Amazon, Netflix, and Uber. Integrative health platforms will therefore become part of the new normal and drive the development of innovative business models. Barriers to entry for technology companies and start-ups can be lowered, patients can be treated as equals, and the roles of payers can be redefined.
This requires not only intelligent digital systems but also the cooperation of the various actors along the patient journey. That is also why we at XUND follow a partnership approach from the very beginning and work together with innovative start-ups such as Kenkou but also technology companies such as A1 Telekom, Thieme, and Garmin on innovative solutions for patient-centered healthcare.
Putting the patient first
We believe that tomorrow’s health journey starts in your living room. Directly on your smartphone and as part of a collaborative ecosystem. That’s why we founded XUND - with the goal of improving quality and access to healthcare.
With our digital health assistant, we help patients to better understand their symptoms, get evidence-based feedback on possible causes, and subsequently connect them to the relevant point-of-treatment. Not only patients benefit from this, but also healthcare providers such as insurance companies, hospitals, or pharmacies. With the medical engine behind XUND that we provide as an API solution, healthcare organizations themselves can be enabled to better understand their data, use diagnostic algorithms based on it and integrate a collaborative ecosystem into their offering.
Ultimately, we want to be the operating system of tomorrow’s healthcare and help to holistically digitize the patient journey.