Future of healthcare post-covid-19 pandemic

The healthcare industry has faced its biggest challenge in over a century during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though it triggered immediate action and steps were taken for greater cooperation between governments, healthcare, health tech, and life-sciences industries, it paved the way for greater cooperation among these in the future too. There has also been unprecedented adoption of technology and innovation across the industry, a trend that is continuing unabated. Here is a look at some of the trends for the future:

1. Superior technologies: Healthtech and telehealth have underlined the need for rapid technological progress in healthcare. The greatest need the healthcare sector faces is for real-time data transfer to enable faster response, especially in the area of critical care. 5G technology could be the game changer making the collaboration between different arms of healthcare possible. Big Data and AI can aid in the faster analysis of data and vastly improve drug development as well as improve the cost of medication and treatment. Voice and image recognition based on AI are going to further improve telehealth. Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and robotics can also help in the war with various diseases when they are powered by 5G technology.
2. Improved data security and privacy: Globally, the healthcare system was based on in-person interaction between patients and healthcare practitioners. Accelerated digitization has made remote consultations or telehealth the preferred mode of consultations. Health care providers are also using chatbots to resolve routine queries related to appointments, follow-ups etc. Greater collaboration between healthcare and technology will make remote consultations more secure and ensure privacy. Remote monitoring wherever appropriate will get bolstered due to faster data sharing and security. The only deterrent that existed for telehealth and remote care was the concern among patients about health records. This going to change in the future as the records are made available online, with integration primary and secondary care in a secure manner will provide greater flexibility and ease to patients and their caregivers.
3. Interoperability: Connection, communication, and collaboration are going to be the norm in the future, in line with the current trends in the industry. Healthcare will be reimagined and redesigned and this has already started taking shape. Enabled by digital technologies like cloud and AI and other emerging technologies, healthcare will soon be more collaborative and integrated.
4. Healthcare supply chain: The pandemic has highlighted how the fragile medical supply chain could break down easily. Better monitoring of demand and supply aided by technology will help in better mapping of resources as well as medicine and equipment. This will also help in building a supply chain that is ready for future shocks such as Covid-19 so that distribution can be aligned to the rise of demand for specific medical supplies appropriately. 
5. Rise of preventive care: Improved diagnostics and testing powered by innovations in the field are rapidly bringing to focus the need for prevention rather than cure. Predictive models and advanced diagnostics can predict grave illnesses or a genetic predisposition towards certain diseases in advance and help patients make corrections to their lifestyle. 
6. Drug and vaccine development: Traditionally discovery or development of new drugs took a long time, sometimes even decades. The application of AI and other technologies have reduced the strain on human minds and improved efficiency. This has led to accelerated drug development and vaccine development to start with, during the pandemic and, expected to continue in the future.

At Venture7, we believe that undoubtedly, the year 2022 is the beginning of a transformation in the way we interact with healthcare systems or experience healthcare across the globe. In the future, healthcare will be more personalized, will leverage data analytics, automation tools, telehealth, telemedicine, advanced diagnostics, artificial intelligence, and a host of new technologies to focus more on preventative care for the benefit of consumers and providers.