E-Solutions are forever changing the industry. Many of the top 10 trends identified in this issue that are expected to impact the industry in the near- and long-term are based on disruptive technologies and solutions.
As Bertalan Mesko, Ph.D., “The Medical Futurist" notes, disruptive technology is already in development for many problems in healthcare. With hundreds of thousands of people having access to their genetic data, there is greater understanding of what medical conditions they are susceptible to. Wearable devices allow patients to measure vital signs and health parameters anywhere. Augmented and virtual reality allow doctors to perform previously impossible procedures. Exoskeletons let paralyzed people walk again, and smart algorithms help analyze radiology images. He says for disruptive medical technologies to be successful, the following steps must be taken:
1. Improving medical training, combining digital and health literacy to prepare a generation of physicians who are open to technology and innovation.
2. Educate patients to make the most of new technologies and take the reins of their own health.
3. Healthcare regulators must understand the coming changes — both the dangers and the value that can be gained. (PV)
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Executive Viewpoints
Angelo Campano
Director, Customer Experience, Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide
HUB Benefits
Efficient physician interaction with HUB services in the EHR can provide benefit verification, precertification, and prior authorization support. It can link patients and physicians using a common portal, so the patient can view available cost-sharing assistance funds and easily submit required information.
The addition of conversational EHR HUB services should be part of a fully integrated marketing program. No single channel can reach everyone in this online, offline, and digital world. Conversational marketing effectively supplements and reinforces other digital marketing efforts, including email, web, and social. The beauty of marketing in the EHR is that it fits well into a multichannel approach, while delivering benefits other channels cannot.
Chris Cullmann
Senior VP, Engagement Strategy, Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide
AI Key to Communications
Artificial intelligence (AI) is by far the most important thing in our near- and long-term communications future. Whether success is quantified as speed to resolution or accuracy of response, AI will lighten the burden on employees, allow improved customer service, better advertising, and improved experiences for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
Digital solutions provide modern brands analytics and metrics, many in real time, to help make more informed and intelligent business decisions. This intelligence can inform when, where, and with which messages a brand can reach their audience. Cost and likelihood to
respond can also be weighed into business decisions, as well providing more granular control of spend and reach.
Jeffrey Saffer, Ph.D.
President and CEO, Quertle
AI and Visual Analytics
Artificial intelligence coupled with visual analytics is poised to have significant impact for the pharmaceutical industry. The tsunami of
biomedical literature, health records, and other information sources require both novel discovery algorithms and a focus on visual
analytics for effective use. Not only can AI impact discovery, but it may make the biggest difference on transitioning to truly personalized medicine.
With up to 30% of R&D budgets being spent rediscovering previously published information, new artificial intelligence-based e-solutions can substantially reduce this waste by providing clearer discovery, better insight, and improved decision support. More accurate and faster discovery from the literature will also diminish the opportunity costs and provide a
competitive advantage.
Lance Converse
Chief Innovation Officer, WIRB – Copernicus Group
The Impact of Digital Solutions
In clinical research, digital solutions are starting to have a measurable impact on helping patients find new medical therapies and clinical trials that are right for them. While we are seeing a promising increase in the use of social media and the Internet to help recruit patients for clinical trials, we still have a long way to go to help build public awareness about clinical trials and provide those patients who demonstrate an interest in volunteering with simple and meaningful ways to connect with the sites who are conducting those studies.
The study start-up process is still a very manual, paper-driven process that is a major cause of study delays. Study start-up solutions that combine site performance data with purpose-built eClinical solutions can help identify, train, qualify, approve, and activate sites much faster, and with a higher level of enrollment success than traditional methods that use multiple point solutions and multiple vendors.
