How Covid Forced Healthcare Companies to Improve their Digital Marketing

Accelerating Digital Transformation in Healthcare post Coronavirus Outbreak

Telehealth, data analytics, and digital engagement were all underway for many healthcare organizations at the beginning of 2020. The coronavirus outbreak has accelerated the adoption of these efforts, making them essential for the healthcare industry. How has digital marketing in healthcare been accelerated and changed due to the pandemic?

Hospitals and healthcare systems were severely affected and overwhelmed by coronavirus patients, increasing their operational, financial, and resource constraints. Soon, they faced a spike in calls and website queries from patients seeking information on changes to services, resources on testing, and health plan coverage.

The Healthcare industry grappled with responding to the ongoing pandemic and adapting to its operations to fulfill other aspects of its core mission. They also began to define and prepare for the future of care amid social uncertainties by understanding –

• What might the post coronavirus outbreak landscape look like?
• How can healthcare systems address new challenges?
• What are the opportunities that revolutionize healthcare?

The healthcare providers must understand their digital health function’s ramifications and how the Internet of Things and information technology can address the challenges and create new everyday opportunities.

1. Healthcare Industry Challenges

Healthcare leaders face a multifaceted challenge, including combating the crisis on the frontlines and tackling other issues like staff safety and financial difficulties. Most of the healthcare providers have already assembled high-functioning teams to respond to COVID-19. They have also demonstrated the resilience required to deal with fast-moving liquidity and economic sustainability.

Many healthcare providers are now recognizing the importance of planning for a difficult lockdown phase. They need to address these challenges while maintaining patient care.

1. Social distancing: The need for social distancing limits the number of patients on-site. Besides, it also contributes to enhancing the administrative cost.
2. Clinical visits: The patient’s clinical visit can enhance viral infection possibilities to the employees and staff members. Healthcare providers should minimize the number of visits.
3. Rising operational costs: The healthcare organizations must maintain hygiene in their premises. They have to deal with the rising operational cost of sanitizing their area, using disposable wearables and disinfectants repetitively.

2. Post Coronavirus outbreak opportunities in healthcare

The technological advancement has unleashed numerous healthcare opportunities when it comes to staying connected with the Internet of Things, virtual meetings, and storing health records online.

• Telehealth

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, there was little progress in telemedicine. However, public health officials insisted on healthcare systems expand the concept of telemedicine through smartphones and other devices.

Technology can help patients diagnose their disease, but they are concerned that they will seek treatment in crowded facilities by talking to them through telehealth technology. And, while telemedicine limits human-to-human interaction, it is essential to slow down the transition.  

Telehealth certainly has many benefits, but those challenges also need to be overcome. Healthcare systems are being forced to address COVID-19 as soon as possible.

• Remote working abilities

The tremendous effect of the Covid-19 epidemic is evident to all of us. While many businesses had the option of shutting down or reducing their services, healthcare providers had no choice: they had to work and provide critical services.

According to statistics, more than 64% of US employees are working remotely since the coronavirus outbreak. And 62% of them stated they would like to continue remote working in the future.

Also, there are genuine business challenges for many hospitals and providers. Canceling or postponing alternative procedures has largely eliminated revenue processes. Optimistic business estimates have been removed. Instead, existence itself has become the goal.

We believe that flexible and creative remote work solutions can help overcome each of these challenges. With increasing caseloads, a deadly new virus, and business challenges, exploring remote work options is no longer an exercise in creative thinking but an essential business priority.

Frequency of remote working in the US
Source: Statista

• Workforce productivity

The administrative and operational challenges faced by healthcare providers are enormous. The pressure on resources and infrastructure has always been tremendous, while physical contact is dangerous for staff, other patients, and visitors.

Healthcare specialists in the on-demand field may offer virtual consulting and at least keep employees working from home. Such an arrangement reduces the pressure on existing employees and resources and helps control overhead costs.

Apart from explicit period benefits such as reduced working hours, increased productivity, increased employee morale, and reduced stress and burnout, remote work arrangements are necessary to minimize human errors.

• Patient support and transparency

Electronic health records (digital health records) have almost replaced paper records that carry the risk of human error. These records are very useful for both patients and physicians as they offer doctors an accurate diagnosis at the earliest. Emergency care providers treating critically ill patients can quickly access patient data to provide appropriate treatment in those difficult times.

3. Technologies for digital transformation in the Healthcare industry

As the proportion of patients visiting each health center increases, organizations need to adopt digital strategies and solutions to provide complete and fast patient care. In particular, dealing with enormous amounts of patient data and records is often challenging (often executed manually) for most healthcare companies that affect patient data. Companies must engage with experienced people in digital transformation services and invest in digital solutions to serve patients faster and better.

a. Big data insights

With large-scale data such as operational data available in finance, clinical, research and development, administration, and health, significant data insights can empower them with meaningful actions to improve the industry’s overall operational efficiency.

• Advanced patient care
• Better operating efficiency
• Finding the best remedy for diseases
• Personal and integrated communication
• Increase access to critical information
• Maintenance of active devices

b. Medical Wearable Device

The advent of wearable technology has taken the medical industry by storm, and the next time you look at your watch, you can track calories while you sleep/walk. This is not a blessing! The most significant benefit of using wearable technology in healthcare is that it helps patients gain control over their health outcomes.

• Promotes active health
• Keeps patients busy
• Does many things
• The benefit to healthcare providers and employees
• Helps to monitor vulnerable patients

c. Virtual Reality

VR and AR have opened the door to many new opportunities in healthcare. These technologies provide systematic solutions to health diagnosis and power users’ most critical challenges, using various options in areas such as general diagnostics and medical training. AR and VR are two techniques that can provide new dimensions to treatment to provide better patient care.

• Mental relief and treatment
• Data Visualization / Body Mapping / Interactive Patient Information
• Advanced diagnosis/risk assessment
• VR surgery run-throw
• AR surgery support
• Medical education/training (simulation)
• Doctor’s advice
• Emergency navigator
• Highly effective pain management
• The study of cancer in 3D
• Recovery from brain injuries
• Nutrition of social skills for children with autism
• Decreased symptoms of depression
• PTSD Helps the giants together
• Treatment of phobias
• Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease
• Identification of early symptoms of schizophrenia

Graphs representing growth of VR market in healthcare organizations in the US
Source: Statista

d. AI / ML in healthcare

AI offers many benefits to healthcare over clinical decision-making techniques. Implementing AI and ML in the industry can enable physicians, physicians, and patients with more accurate and precise data to gain an unprecedented understanding of diagnosis, care procedures, treatment diversity, and patient outcomes.

• Mind-mapping through the brain-computer interface
• Expanding services in developing or underdeveloped areas
• Reduce the use of electronic health records
• Preventing the risks of antibiotic resistance
• Accurate analysis data for pathology images
• Empowerment with intelligence for medical devices, machines
• Advancing immunotherapy to treat cancer
• Turning EHR into a potential risk indicator
• Health inspection by wearable tech and personal devices
• Take selfies with powerful diagnostic tools.
• Enabling automatic and accurate compliance
• Make better decisions
• Predicting future diseases
• Stop fake billing

e. Robotics in Healthcare

Robots help medical personnel perform routine tasks so that they can focus on other stressful responsibilities. Such automation in healthcare makes medical processes safer and less expensive for patients. The significant advantage of using robots in healthcare is to perform microsurgery, which is difficult for humans to handle.

• Admitted to a small hospital
• Reduce pain and discomfort
• Quick recovery time
• Micro incision, which reduces the risk of infection
• Minimal stain
• More and more views
• Increased agility
• From excessive chewing

  f. Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) has begun to impact the healthcare industry with smart connected devices, systems, and items that help billions of users access data and make more timely, accurate, and relevant decisions. IoT has opened the door to many opportunities in the healthcare industry. According to market forecasts, the IoT healthcare market is valued at $158.07 billion by 2020, with 50 billion connected devices.

• Low cost
• Good patient experience
• Better drug management
• Reduce errors and waste
• Good treatment results
• Real-time reporting and monitoring
• End-to-end connectivity and affordability
• Organized data and analysis
• Tracking and alerts
• Remote medical assistance
• Research

Image showing Role of Internet of Things in Healthcare
Source: SlideShare

g. Cloud computing

Cloud computing offers healthcare numerous benefits through data access to resilient and virtually unlimited scalability, high availability, and affordable budget. A recent report estimated that global spending by all healthcare holders on cloud computing would reach $22.35 billion by 2022, with a cumulative annual growth rate of double-digit growth in 2017-222.

• High data availability, strong backup, and disaster recovery capability
• Adequate data protection, protection from unauthorized access and breach
• Proven compliance with regulatory frameworks
• Help
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Data collector
• Scalability
• Price
• Security
• Extensive access to access, especially in the event of an accident
• Good storage – low cost
• Better use of big data for the treatment of patients
• Better medical research
• Remote patient care

  h. Chatbot

Lack of skilled staff has impacted patients’ outcomes, and manual procedures have mitigated challenges in this area. Healthcare leaders are turning to a wide range of technological solutions, widely adopted medical chatbots. If you are the leader of a healthcare organization, you want to implement medical chatbot implementations to ease your healthcare challenges and improve patient care.

• Answer customer questions
• Schedule of appointments and consultations from anywhere
• Track patient care to reduce unwanted visits and admissions
• Inform the prescription refill and care guide via alerts and instructions
• Streamline entry, discharge, and transfer request
• Warning team during a patient emergency
• Store and update patients’ medical history and records
• Automatic data entry to reduce human-made errors and duplicate entries

  i. Data Science and Forecast Analysis

Predictive analysis (PA) uses technical and statistical methods to perform a detailed analysis of data to predict individual patients’ outcomes. The information can be past treatments and the latest medical research data published in top journals/databases.

• Increases diagnosis accuracy
• Helps with preventive medicine
• Provides physicians with answers for each patient
• Provides forecasts regarding the cost of insurance products to employees and hospitals
• Allows researchers to develop predictive models for overtime accuracy
• Choose the right hospital and clinic sites.
• Optimize staffing level and improve business functions
• Identify which households are responding to marketing messages.
• Optimize new and existing trading markets
• Support long-term strategic planning initiatives

4. Benefits of digital transformation in healthcare

The number of patients visiting each health center is very high; these organizations need to adopt digital strategies and solutions to provide complete and fast patient care. In particular, dealing with the sheer volume of patient data and records is often challenging (often executed manually) for most healthcare companies that affect patient data. Companies need to connect with experienced digital transformation services in digital solutions to serve patients faster and better.

• Personalized healthcare experience

The Internet of Things and wearables give patients a sense of personal experience in improving their health. The information obtained from wearable devices can help insurers more accurately determine a patient’s risk of illness.

Patients who take preventive measures to improve their health may receive lower insurance premiums. Some medical devices such as fitness watches can create competitive goals for users to achieve through exercise, diet, and nutrition.

Also, wearable technology can help health companies save money. One study found that health applications and personal care apps in the U.S. could save health institutions close to $7 billion a year.

• Patient and hospital data management

Hospitals should store medical data, invoices, and reports for patients daily. This requires a lot of manual work. Nevertheless, the digitization of hospital processes makes the entire workflow faster, more integrated, and efficient.

Data management is complex for most hospitals, and digitization enables management and staff to move processes forward to provide better patient care quickly. Creating intranet, workflow, and centralized data storage will allow doctors and staff to archive and retrieve data without difficulty.

• Quick response to patients’ queries

Through digital connections established across various social channels, doctors can quickly answer patients’ questions on multiple diseases and health conditions. Patients can use their mobile phones from anywhere, anytime, and without any hassle to answer questions. It boosts patients’ confidence, improves self-confidence, and ensures that patients receive immediate advice during any illness.

• Improved internal communication

The technological revolution has enabled easy and efficient communication among healthcare organizations. Using video, virtual reality technology online, discussion online discussion forums, medical professionals can interact with staff or students and provide medical knowledge to provide better patient care and treatment.

• Unleashing benefits of mobile apps for patients and staff

Healthcare applications have reduced the burden of patients seeking hospital visits and finding nearby physicians. Simultaneously, application solutions have enabled physicians to work with patients, especially in rural areas, and provide valuable solutions. Also, the search for disease and drug information using mobile apps is integrated and fast.

Final words

Currently, many health services are advancing their digitization efforts to control costs and reduce the significant challenges they face. Replace your healthcare center with digital solutions and make sure your patients receive timely care and treatment through a connected digital experience.

Perception System is increasingly integrating the latest technologies into an intelligent patient-care ecosystem with the vision of a connected future. We have excelled in healthcare digital transformation solutions that provide high-level patient care while limiting person-to-person contact as much as possible.