Healthtech is at a peculiar intersection. The booming sector can improve health outcomes for patients, reduce costs for healthcare providers, and support the NHS technology transformation from a cure-centric approach to a prevention-led one. But increasingly complex and interdependent population health challenges mean healthtech can’t afford to stand still. Nor will it.
Machine learning and generative AI in healthcare will continue to explode, turning from a theoretical concept to a real-life tool millions of patients rely on. In practice, this means quicker, more accurate diagnosis. And, as more data is gathered and the technology improves, so too do patient outcomes. Expect to see this all across the health and care system. From general practice rooms and pharmacies to dentists, and the care sector too. Perhaps more so than any other sector, the need for accuracy and precision in health can be the difference between life and death, and emerging tech can increase that.
Pharmacogenomics (PGX) is perhaps the most exciting medium-long-term development in healthcare. Combining cutting-edge science with state-of-the-art innovation, the ability PGX has to offer a truly individualised experience is unmatched. The truth is, we are all different by our genetic code. We all respond differently to medicines simply because of who we are. Being able to target medicines and their dosages ranges from the convenient – shifting a headache quicker by switching from paracetamol to aspirin – to the life-changing by giving the right people the right drugs during heart surgery.
This is already happening. In the Netherlands, studies have shown that 18% of patients were recommended to avoid certain medicines, while 14% were recommended to adjust their dose. Overall, 99.2% of patients had genes that produced actionable variants. Expect to see more of this in the UK, not least because the cost is continuing to tumble down. In 2007, the cost of a human genome sequence was one million US dollars but today it’s around £500.
Something else to look out for is virtual healthcare assistants. The NHS and future governments will continue to slog it out attempting to fix the workforce crisis and other interconnected problems that produce record-breaking waiting lists but, in the meantime, virtual healthcare assistants are helping to solve patients’ problems with access. Think of this as a chatbot, but much better. Remote access means patients can receive care where they’re most comfortable, when they want, and via a platform they’re comfortable with. If you live alone, this can be a vital social connection alluding to the social benefits healthtech can play. While in primary care, this also means reducing pressure on face-to-face interactions in GP surgeries.
Finally, health should be more about prevention than cure, so it’s not just a case of providing effective medicine for current conditions – the healthtech sector can support the NHS in its transition to robust preventative health services. Again, this means delivering care when and where the patient wants it. We have the ability now to monitor activity and diet levels in a deeply personalised way – moving away from generic platitudes and into something more tailored. But we can take this to the next level with tech to train and coach individuals, pushing damaging diseases further away.
A final thought is to remember a golden rule of healthcare development – to reduce health inequalities. Modern technology is fantastic and can do amazing things for so many, but it’s important that those in the most need can access treatment, which can include those who are isolated, fragile and, possibly, digitally illiterate, and don’t suffer digital health inequality.
If you want to learn more about what Refresh does in healthtech, email george@refreshpr.co.uk.
