Top 10 predictions for healthcare IT in 2018

Top 10 predictions for healthcare IT in 2018

As new technology increasingly is adopted by healthcare organizations, a variety of new drivers are emerging that will affect how IT is used to enable better care. IDC FutureScape looked at the following drivers to make predictions about where healthcare IT will support care delivery over the next three to four years.

Those drivers include technology-centric transformation altering business and society; the impact of artificial intelligence and automation; the new data centric paradigm; cyberthreats; revolutionized processes that are expanding the reach of technology; consumer expectations; and sustainability.

Here are IDC’s worldwide health industry predictions for 2018.

Real-world evidence

By 2019, more than 50 percent of life science and healthcare companies will have dedicated resources to support accessing, sharing and analyzing real-world evidence for use across their organizations. The growing availability of real-world evidence data is providing both healthcare and life science industries with the ability to better assess the impact of existing and emerging drugs and treatments. Real-world evidence also will help providers to target patients who could benefit from a drug—or exclude those that might be harmed.

Digital mobile engagement

Digital mobile engagement among life science companies, patients and providers will have increased 50 percent by 2019, improving brand sentiment, clinical trial recruitment and medication adherence. The use of mobile technology increasingly will enable patients, providers and life science organizations to bridge communication gaps and create information pathways. Most providers and patients are already comfortable –more than 80 percent of physicians use smartphones or tablets as they work, and most patients primarily use their phones to access medical information.

Internet of Things for asset tracking

By 2020, adoption rates of IoT-enabled asset tracking and inventory management systems in hospitals will have doubled worldwide, improving patient safety, staff satisfaction, and operational efficiency. The growth of IoT holds unparalleled potential to support providers and life science organizations in making operational decisions. Additionally, aggregation and integration of data through IoT-enabled platforms provides a new foundation for gaining insights into hospital operations, asset management and human resources management, enabling optimization of assets and reduction in operational costs.

Patient reported data

By the end of 2020, 25 percent of data used in medical care will be collected and shared with healthcare systems by the patients themselves—a true case of "bring your own data." Patients are becoming true partners with their care managers and providers, with technology enabling them to measure, collect and share relevant data with the healthcare system. This personalized patient-generated data is vital for clinicians who want to keep patients engaged to ensure continuity of care.

Robotics at hospitals

By 2020, one hospital in four with 200 or more beds will have deployed robotics to handle time-consuming tasks, reduce labor and prevent errors to enhance the sustainability of its business operations and improve patient safety. These technologies are being applied in healthcare and life sciences to automate existing processes and re-engineer established systems. Hospitals that have deployed robots are using them mostly for supply chain functions, but they are increasingly being adopted for clinical applications and cases.

Blockchain for operations management and patient ID

By 2020, 20 percent of healthcare organizations will have moved beyond pilot projects and will be using blockchain for operations management and patient identity. Healthcare currently is in the early stages of exploring the use of blockchain to improve business and clinical processes. IDC Health Insights predicts that during the next three years, healthcare organizations will focus on using distributed ledger technology to create immutable records to manage slide chains and identify patients. Supply chain management is gaining traction as a first use case to deploy distributed ledger technology in healthcare.

Cognitive and artificial intelligence

By 2021, 20 percent of healthcare and 40 percent of life science organizations will have achieved 15 percent to 20 percent productivity gains through the adoption of cognitive/AI technology. While providers and payers have been slow to adopt cognitive platforms, the recent introduction of applications that have embedded cognitive/AI technologies have resulted in an increase in IT adoption. Adoption is currently in large academic medical centers—most promising in the near term are improvements in productivity.

Tech-aided back office operations

Driven by overwhelming data management requirements, 20 percent of commercial payer back-office operations will have been shifted to BPaaS contracts by 2021. Payer IT functions and systems are being overwhelmed by data, but their budgets are constrained. Under current operating models, payer IT functions lack the capacity to integrate, manage, analyze and act on insights hidden in the data. The solution for many payers will be to contract out significant back-office functionality to business process as a service (BPaaS) vendors. The shift will likely impact clinical data integration, customer service leveraging social and mobile technology, and care management patient outreach.

Medical device vulnerability

By 2021, the world will have seen its first $100 million class-action lawsuit against a medical device manufacturer for negligence resulting from a cyberattack, causing the death of more than 25 people connected to networked medical devices while hospitalized. With the adoption of IoT, the next attack vector is digital medical devices, especially as their online capabilities continue to increase. Connected medical devices in hospitals, such as infusion pumps and imaging machines, increase the threat surface of the IT infrastructure and represent a loss of security perimeter defense.

Digital/virtual healthcare services

By 2021, digital healthcare services will account for 6 percent of global healthcare expenditures. A new generation of digital healthcare services is reaching consumers in a faster and more personalized way, relying on telehealth and patient engagement technologies. These approaches are leveraging IoT-enabled medical devices, augmented and virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, further underpinned by the third-generation platform of technologies.