According to a recent global survey, most healthcare organizations have yet to implement or successfully launch a digital health strategy.
Digital health is information technology, inclusive of both hardware and software solutions, which enables the managing, tracking and analyzing of an individual or population's health and wellness. Digital health strategies are focused on improving healthcare delivery, quality and access while reducing costs and creating a more personalized approach to medicine.
The "Global Progress on Digital Health" Survey conducted by Validic revealed that the majority of respondents (59%) are either behind schedule with their digital health strategy or have no digital health strategy currently in place. The remaining 41% of healthcare organizations say they are on schedule with implementing and executing their strategy. Respondents to the survey were a range of healthcare organizations that included hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, wellness companies and healthcare technology companies.
"The purpose of this survey was to provide the healthcare ecosystem with an important update and valuable insights on the progress the industry is making with digital health," Validic Chief Marketing Officer Chris Edwards said. "We are seeing strong examples of companies who are innovating and making progress leveraging digital health to help them advance their overall business. It was interesting to find that more than half of healthcare organizations say they have no digital health strategy or are behind schedule. We know these companies are looking for a way to accelerate their digital health initiatives, and that is why we wanted share this information, as well as provide some commonalities of thriving healthcare organizations. Digital health is moving from being a competitive, speed-to-market advantage to being a vital component of a company's success and relevance in the new healthcare landscape. Now is the time to be executing."
Implementing a digital health strategy can be difficult as there are many components to consider when formulating. To help companies understand the necessary steps to take when launching a successful digital health strategy, Validic has released a white paper highlighting best practices. The white paper also delves into healthcare's growing reliance and relationship with technology, while profiling successful organizations in digital health, like Kaiser Permanente and Partners Healthcare. To download the white paper, click here.
"In today's healthcare landscape, formulating and executing a digital health strategy must be a priority for all healthcare organizations," Validic CEO and Co-founder Ryan Beckland said in the recent MobiHealthNews Digital Health Trends webinar. "We are experiencing transformative shifts in the way we deliver, access and think about healthcare. And, the major driver of this shift is the rapid pace of digital health innovation and adoption."
Healthcare professionals, who are members of the American Telemedicine Association, as well as subscribers to MedCityNews andMobiHealthNews media publications, took part in this survey.