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The Remote Healthcare Revolution – The Future Is In Your Hands

Liis Narusk, CEO of Certific

10 June 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic changed everything for healthcare systems around the world, exposing their fragility and lack of resources in the face of an overwhelming global health crisis. But this fragility is not just limited to global pandemics – scarcity of resources and an ageing population have been presenting mounting challenges for healthcare systems for some years. There are many answers as to how we address these challenges but one in particular stands out as a lesson from the pandemic – put power into the hands of the people.

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The 'quantified self'

Over the past decade, people have been increasingly able to monitor and measure their own health, through smartphones, smartwatches, and other wearable devices. The ‘quantified self’ has become part of everyday life. This has great potential for the future, but concerns over the accuracy of data has meant that patients still need to visit a healthcare professional to take these simple measurements.

There are however, many medical tests and diagnostics that are currently performed in a clinical setting that could easily be replicated in any other location. Over the past two years, we have seen a global experiment in remote testing that has revolutionised how we look at medical testing. Taking a test in your own home for a serious illness has become commonplace.

So why stop there? Commonplace ailments such as Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) are an example of a widespread issue that shouldn’t require a doctor’s appointment as it can be carried out at home. 

UTI’s are a very common recurring condition, with 40% of women expected to suffer from one during their lifetime, and 4.8 million women in the UK suffering from a UTI each year. In the UK, UTI tests account for up to 10 million GP appointments per year according to NHS data. These appointments cost the NHS around £392 million a year that could be spent on more urgent cases.

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Implications of remote healthcare

In 10 years’ time, we will see a vast array of medical tests being performed remotely and embedded in smart devices that enable the day-to-day monitoring of health and wellbeing, all seamlessly integrated into the healthcare system and treatment options.

This has serious implications for how we look at healthcare. The explosion in remote testing means that more tests will be done, leading to earlier diagnosis and better treatment options, which in turn means improved patient outcomes. It will make clinical trials easier to manage at scale, bringing better treatments to the market more swiftly. It will also enable healthcare providers to focus their attention on the cases that count, cutting waiting lists and costs, while improving efficiency at the same time.

Technology to provide a secure and confidential environment

If we take a lesson from banking, we can see how technology has transformed our interactions with financial providers. Once upon a time, we used to have to visit a bank branch in person and take cash out over the counter after proving our ID. Then came cashpoints, which still meant you had to visit certain locations. Now we have apps that mean we can pay with our phones or laptops at our leisure and access goods and services without ever visiting a bank branch in person again.

If you apply the same rationale to healthcare, using similar technology to account opening for online banking to prove your ID for remote medical testing, you can see how it can take place in a secure and confidential environment. You won’t need to visit a hospital or a GP for testing or even most treatment. It will be delivered to, and in, your own home.

We are entering a time when healthcare will be as much about prediction, prevention and personal action as the treatment of patients by professionals. This revolution will save time and money.

But most importantly, it will save lives. 

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