Reimagine, Adapt and Reinvent: Digital Healthcare for the Post-COVID World

• COVID-19 has presented a humanitarian crisis like no other, with more than seven million infected by the virus and 400 thousand lives lost.
• The healthcare industry is challenged as never before to re-imagine designs of mission critical devices, dramatically ramp up production capacity, and get essential equipment such as ventilators and personal protective equipment quickly to clinicians and patients.
• Many MedTech companies are moving quickly to rise to the challenge and the industry as a whole will need to embrace digital transformation to tide over this crisis, and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed yet another human face of helplessness and lack of control on the behavior of the ecosystem we belong to. It has clearly demonstrated the limitations of human knowledge and our living system as a whole. At the same time, it also presents an opportunity for reform in healthcare delivery.

The immediate priority for almost all countries in the world will be to boost the investment needed in the primary healthcare and personal health monitoring methodologies. This will evolve in an impactful manner as most of the governments will make substantial investments.

 As services, case volumes, and MedTech operations stabilize, the industry and each of its stakeholders will be challenged to fundamentally rethink their business and operating models to adapt to the healthcare needs of the future.

Digital Transformation will be the prominent theme for the future of the MedTech industry in the post-COVID world.

Some of the key technology trends that will drive this change include:

Embracing Microservices-based Architecture

Most medical applications are resource-intensive and monolithic. Transformation of these applications into microservices-based architecture is a real need.

Capitalizing on the Internet of Medical Things

Today’s medical equipment is a combination of advanced electronics and software, and hence highly sophisticated and feature-rich. . While in other industries, equipment downtime means financial or productivity losses, in the healthcare sector it can even mean loss of precious human lives. Technologies like IoT can enable easy and accurate tracking of equipment failures, thus facilitating quick repair, increasing efficiency, and curbing costs.

Harnessing Cloud Technologies

to address scalability and monitor patients remotely. Distributed post-processing of images from radiology devices will help to ensure better clinical outcomes quickly. Collaboration of experts across the globe, made possible by Cloud-based platforms, will in turn help to speed up diagnosis and cure.

Blockchain Technologies for EMR and Data Management

Once Blockchain was introduced to manage EMRs, it became the standardized method of digital health data management. Hospitals and care providers will no longer require specific software or databases to access patient data.

Digital Twins of Human Systems for Faster Drug discovery and Clinical Trials

The Digital Twin technology is already proving useful though on a small scale now, taking over separate human body areas. Its potential is massive. There will be a larger focus on how we can accelerate the drug discovery process, saving years of clinical trials, and giving more patients access to much-needed treatment sooner.

We will be able to diagnose pathologies reports earlier, and predict and prevent health deterioration in chronic cases. Regardless of their condition, patients will receive personalized treatment plans with calculated health outcomes, avoided risks, and reduced invasive procedures.

Ultra-personalized Patient-specific Solutions with 3D Printing

As patients and healthcare professionals start appreciating the benefits of 3D Printing, including reduction in surgery costs and time, trauma, and healing periods, the demand for personalized medical devices will increase. Companies have started using the technology to supplement COVID-related demands, including face shields and other personal protective equipment for medical providers and the much-needed ventilators for patients.

For instance, Ford Motor Company is partnering with GE Healthcare to expand production of ventilators and other critical equipment in the US. Ford plans to assemble more than 100,000 face shields per week.

Accelerating Connected Healthcare Through Interoperable Medical Devices

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the deadly implications of the lack of inter-compatibility of electronic health records, the need for innovation, and also for agility of open platforms.
Healthcare organizations need to take a holistic look at data sharing strategies that span the entire patient care continuum to be able to deliver on those strategies. The future of healthcare will be all about connecting the dots and sharing data along the value chain. The current healthcare ecosystem is based on a curative care model, which can be converted into a purely preventive care model with data-driven technology.

Adopting these technology solutions will be the most essential step towards ensuring efficient healthcare in the pandemic and post-pandemic situations. These solutions will help immensely to improve the speed of delivery, scalability, configurability, usability, and security of healthcare applications of the future. The top priorities of new-generation clinical applications are improving the user experience, implementing smarter workflows, and enhancing clinical outcomes.

Leveraging more than two decades of deep domain knowledge and engagement experience with innovators of the healthcare industry, QuEST Global delivers a comprehensive set of solutions for the Medical Devices industry that spans the complete value chain. We help our customers to build cost-effective models for emerging markets and boost new product development, all the while ensuring top quality. With sharp focus on R&D and product development, regulatory compliance, verification/validation services, and post-market support, our team has co-engineered modern, holistic medical devices that millions of people across the world use today.

We have delivered significant outcomes like reducing product recall rates by 30% and accelerating time-to-market by 20% for global leaders in the industry, and have also enabled them to breathe new life into their existing products.