The King's Fund. The digital revolution: eight technologies that will change health and care (13 November 2020)

Summary

Before the emergence of the novel coronavirus and the subsequent pandemic, the health and care system had a poor track record in adopting digital technologies at scale. However, in response to the pandemic the healthcare system rapidly implemented new tools, many technology-based, to allow healthcare to be delivered when physical contact is not possible. The approach to using digital tools in health care provision is undergoing a substantial and rapid shift.

Many of the technologies adopted during the first phase of the pandemic were already well established but not widely implemented; the maturity of the technology enabled the provision of healthcare through remote consultation to be much more prevalent much more quickly.

Despite this recent rapid adoption of digital technologies, the health and care system remains at the early stages of digital health, with many tools replicating physical approaches and processes rather than taking advantage of what makes digital different. 

Content

In this article, Pritesh Mistry examines eight technologies most likely to change health and care over the next few years.

1. Smartphones and wearables.
2. At-home or portable diagnostics.
3. Smart or implantable drug delivery mechanisms.
4. Digital therapeutics and immersive technologies.
5. Genome sequencing.
6. Artificial intelligence.
7. Robotics and automation.
8. The connected community.