Vaughn Kauffman, principal at Health Industry Practice Leader, PwC, shared his thoughts on the patient experience and its importance as healthcare moves towards the future, Forbes reports.
Here's what you need to know.
1. Mr. Kauffman called the movement to consumer-oriented, tech-enabled healthcare the New Health Economy. As healthcare continues to adapt a more consumer-facing model, providers will have to change their mindset on how healthcare is performed.
"Patients will be treated more like customers, with more personalized, convenient and on-demand care," he said. "Our data shows that one-third of people would change their healthcare provider based on the promise of a better experience — so there is a strong basis for the shift."
2. Mr. Kauffman also predicts that care will move from episodic treatment to a continuous model.
He added that he expects "prescriptive analytics," to see a large uptick in usage, as analytics become more predictive in nature.
"Most doctors will tell you that they don't want to weed through reams of data: what they want is access to the right information to inform a particular treatment at any given time — and this is on the horizon," he said.
3. DIY tests, that patients use at home, are growing in use, and it's a trend he expects will continue. Mr. Kauffman expects that'll divert millions of patients away from physician offices and emergency room.
He believes as these home kits see more market adaptation information will flow more freely from physicians to caregivers and vice versa.
4. Canada and the United States view telemedicine as viable business models that will continue to grow and flourish.
5. Mr. Kauffman believes retailers will continue building walk-in clinics that focus on wellness to cash in on the dual opportunities their stores present. Not only could a customer pick up lifestyle products, but they could now visit a physician extender to get necessary wellness information.
6. For companies looking to embrace Mr. Kauffman's New Health Economy, he suggests they aim for disruptive leaps that will reward transformative services and products. He recommends device makers embrace a fast, frugal and frequent-failure model that develops and tests products quickly.
He also stresses the importance of engaging risk management early in the business cycle.
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