Accenture predicts 5 digital forces to reshape healthcare delivery

Accenture identified five forces that would likely have an impact on the healthcare industry now. These forces, which it said will converge in three to five years, include: intelligent automation; the liquid workforce; the platform economy; predictable disruption; and digital trust. Kaveh Safavi, M.D., J.D., senior managing director of Accenture's health practice, said with these five forces, the health industry will increasingly tap digital technologies to augment human labor, personalize care and free up time to focus on where they are needed most. "The outcome of a people-first, digital health strategy is that it liberates the healthcare workforce to focus on more meaningful work that requires judgment and personal interaction," he said. According to the industry report, "Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision 2016, the health industry will increasingly embrace intelligent automation--powered by artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and augmented reality – to streamline basic tasks, such as collecting patient intake data, enabling clinicians to focus where their training and experience have the greatest value. An Accenture's survey found that roughly seven in 10 health executives are investing more in machine learning and AI-related technologies than they were two years ago. Nearly half of health executives also reported extensive use of automation for IT tasks (48 percent) and customer interactions (47 percent). The future workforce will also be empowered by technology to scale clinical expertise to many patients, from wherever that doctor is working. Accenture said this increasingly liquid workforce will allow health organizations to adjust and adapt to meet today's dynamic demands. As patients expect the on-demand services they enjoy in financial services, entertainment and retail to permeate their health experiences, new options will emerge to tailor interactions and augment care services. The report estimates that by the end of 2019, roughly four in 10 people (42 percent) in the healthcare workforce will be contractors, freelancers or internal temporary positions. The platform economy will likewise use digitally enabled business models to capture new growth opportunities and link patient experiences across the health ecosystem. Accenture estimates that demand for health application programming interfaces (APIs) will grow 10-fold by 2021. Nearly 4 in 10 health executives surveyed (39 percent) believe that these online-based services – such as self-scheduling appointments, accessing records and tracking a patient's activity from hospital to home – are very critical to their business' success. And just as platforms are disrupting traditional care models, Accenture believes predictable disruption will force health executives to expect the unexpected. "To that end, 86 percent of healthcare executives feel pressure to reinvent their businesses before they are overtaken by competitors, or disrupted out of their markets.