As we’ve touched based with clients this week across the healthcare ecosystem, we’ve been hearing a consistent sentiment,
“When we get through this – and we will get through this – will healthcare still look the same?”
It’s a worthy question. COVID-19 is fundamentally changing the way we work, the way we learn, and the way we care. Where video conferencing, e-learning, and Telehealth used to be a convenient bonus, they are suddenly a necessity.
But, this new virtual healthcare experience is going to be about much more than a computer camera and microphone. We need new ways of thinking about how to monitor, motivate, educate, and treat patients.
For the past few years we’ve talked about the need for healthcare to create a level of digital experience that consumers have come to expect from the Amazons and Ubers of the world. We’ve seen pockets of innovation here and there. But interoperability, organizational silos, and competing priorities have held back what we would consider real progress.
That is all suddenly changing. The digital investments that healthcare providers make in the next few months are not just a bandaid to weather this strange storm. They will be the foundation that defines the success of our healthcare system, longterm.
While it can be difficult to think about the future when there is an unprecedented health emergency right in front of us, one can’t help but have faith that we will overcome this.
No one can predict exactly when we’ll again have the freedom to go where we want with the people we want to be with. But we can say with certainty that once we have that freedom – whether it’s in 3 months, 9 months, or more – it’s doubtful that we’ll go back to what used to be. Once consumers have had even a little taste of this new digital reality, it will become the new normal for all aspects of life, especially healthcare.
We’d like to thank our clients and the amazing healthcare workers on the front lines of COVID-19. Your courage, tenacity, and leadership to not just overcome this, but to come out better than we were before, is inspiriting.
