The Future of Patient Engagement 2.0 in Europe, 2018

Healthcare today is not about just going to the doctor at the time of illness or on regular appointments to check the overall disease progression. It is shifting to a more proactive rather than reactive approach with patients being more aware and willing to be involved in their own health. The traditional culture of healthcare and how people engage in healthcare is being dramatically reshaped by new cultural attitudes and the pervasive adoption of mobile phones/smartphones/social media by the general population as well as digital health tools increasingly used by healthcare providers. This opens up new possibilities for reshaping behaviors, especially for younger demographics. Further, health systems around the world are reeling under the pressure of rising costs, shortage of personnel, and the ever-increasing burden of chronic ailments. Digital health solutions are the saviors in such a landscape driving Patient Engagement 2.0. Not only do the IT solutions empower the patients, they also provide a cost-effective alternate channel for managing chronic patients. Broadly, digital health solutions cater to patient touch points across the care continuum and target clinical (remote monitoring, telehealth etc.), administrative (appointment scheduling, reminders etc.), and financial (billing, payer communications etc.) functions. A plethora of pure-play patient engagement companies are offering innovative solutions. EHR providers and medical device companies are not far behind. Different vendor types are targeting different gaps in the care journey. Innovations and start-up activity is abundant in this area with trends such as healthcare consumerization shaping up. Increasingly, there is a demand for clinical-grade digital solutions which offer the ease of use of consumer-grade devices and the accuracy and efficacy of medical-grade ones. Europe is emerging as a strong market with some countries becoming more attractive for such solutions. The regulatory framework of countries, IT infrastructure, and sociocultural factors have a major impact on the uptake of patient engagement solutions. The value of engaging patients digitally is not just being seen among the healthcare providers, but also with medical diagnostics, devices, pharmaceuticals, and insurance providers. As the report title reads, ‘There is something for everyone’. The stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem should not look at patient engagement as a one-time activity, but as a cultural shift in the change of mind set and way of life. This report covers the current scenario for patient engagement in Europe and among stakeholders and also delves into growth opportunity areas for vendors to exploit in the next five years.

Author: Chandni Mathur Read Less