Article
Connected health
How digital technology is transforming health and social care
April 2015
With more than 100,000 health apps, rapid growth in wearables and a large per cent of the population now owning a smartphone, digital technology looks set to revolutionise the future of health and social care.
Connected health, the latest report from the Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions, provides a current view of the ways in which digital technology is changing practices in health and social care, with an emphasis on the UK. It addresses the opportunities and challenges, as well as strategies for taking digital health to true implementation.
Connect health: How digital technology is transforming health and social care
Key findings
- Europe expected to overtake USA as largest mHealth market by 2018
- As the capacity and capability of digital technology is advancing exponentially, its cost is also falling
- Technology enabled care has the potential to increase provider productivity, deliver cost savings, reduce avoidable service use and improve health outcomes
- Digital technologies can empower patients and carers by giving them more control over their own health
- UK adoption of digital health remains slow - the biggest barriers are cultural and regulatory
- New entrants, such as technology, retail and pharmaceutical companies, raise the possibility of new healthcare provider models and approaches to health research transforming the patient experience
