The future awakens

The Report

With the coming of 2018, the future of health is more challenging and the possibilities more exciting than ever before. While the life sciences and health care industries are waking up to these possibilities, the need for strategies and judgement to shape our health – whether as a health care provider, life sciences company, clinician or patient – is also higher than ever. Moreover, in the intervening years the pace and scale of innovation and, in particular, the impact of new science, automation and robotics on the future of work is becoming increasingly apparent.

This report evaluates evidence in 2017 and provides six new predictions of what the life sciences and health care industries might look like in 2022. We identify the major trends across the industries, the key constraints that will need to be overcome and the evidence available today to enable us to predict the future. We also identify case examples that illustrate the changing role of the patient and the importance of the patient experience, as well as how innovations and new business models are already transforming services, systems and processes.

Viewpoints / key findings

The quantified self is alive and well, digital technologies have transformed the culture of health care and new entrants have disrupted delivery models. These are some predictions that, if they come true, will shake up the life sciences and health care industry in the next five years.

This report presents an optimistic view of the future, calling businesses to awaken to the possibilities that lie ahead and evaluates evidence in 2017 and provide six new predictions of the life sciences and health care ecosystem might look like in 2022 and the key constraints to overcome:

• The quantified self is alive and well: The genome generation is more informed and engaged in managing their own health
• The culture in health care is transformed by digital technologies: Smart health care is delivering more cost-effective patient-centred care
• The life sciences industry is industrialised: Advanced cognitive technologies have improved the productivity, speed and compliance of core processes
• Data is the new health care currency: Artificial intelligence and real-world evidence are unlocking value in health data
• The future of medicine is here and now: Exponential advances in life-extending and precision therapies are improving outcomes
• New entrants are disrupting health care: The boundaries between stakeholders have become increasingly blurred

In addition, each of our six predictions shares three key enablers that are critical to the realisation of the prediction and will impact the pace of change:

• wide-scale adoption of new digital and cognitive health technologies
• recruitment and retention of new skills and talent
• a new approach to regulation.

Adopting these enablers should see the life sciences and health care industries survive and thrive.