Realizing digital healthcare’s promise

Digitally-enabled care has become a fundamental business imperative, but barriers in data sharing, privacy and security, workflows and payment still inhibit progress, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC’s) Health Research Institute.

PwC surveyed 1,000 physicians and physician “extenders” (i.e., nurse practitioners and physician assistants) on the promise of digital technology for its report, “Healthcare delivery of the future,” and reached the following findings:

• 79 percent of physicians believe that mobile device use can enable clinicians to better coordinate care
• Half of physicians reported that digital visits could replace more than 10 percent of in-office patient visits
• About 42 percent of physicians are at least “somewhat comfortable” with relying on at-home test results for prescription purposes
• About two out of three physicians said they would be willing to prescribe an app for patient chronic disease self-management

But much work needs to be done to fully realize the benefits of digital health.

“We have a great deal of technology in all aspects of healthcare right now, but we’re not optimizing or sharing data across sites for transitions of care,” said Susan Turney, MD, CEO at Marshfield Clinic Health System in Wisconsin, in the report. “In my mind, it’s not what it is, it’s how it’s being used.”

The paper authors concluded that healthcare companies should help physicians optimize use of digital tools. “If they do not, they risk not being able to keep pace with changing consumer demands, maintain financial sustainability in an increasingly risk-based reimbursement world and effectively compete with new industry entrants that continue to gain tractions,” they concluded.