The Growth of Digital Health in the COVID-19 Era

Responding to patient demand for virtual care: Insight for healthcare, medtech, and pharma

The 2020 pandemic has seen healthcare provision impacted on multiple levels across the globe. Traditional healthcare systems, staff, and resources have been overstretched and under pressure, while millions of patients have avoided treatment and care settings altogether.

Digital health technology has been crucial during this time – relieving pressure on healthcare systems and enabling care to continue for many via virtual care in the form of telemonitoring, apps, and AI.

Our latest report, ‘The Growth of Digital Health in the COVID-19 Era’, looks at the disruption and innovation COVID-19 has brought. To understand the changes, we surveyed 4,000 US and UK consumers; half of whom have chronic or long-term illnesses.

The findings uncovered how patients’ behavior has changed towards seeking in-person medical care during the pandemic, mainly due to fear of catching COVID-19. Our data estimates that around 10m Britons and 80m Americans have actively avoided seeking in-person medical care since the onset of the pandemic, with many canceling appointments and putting off routine tests due to the fear of exposure to the virus.

This research not only raises valid concerns regarding the long-term impact medical avoidance of this scale could have on people’s health, but sheds light on a growing appetite among patients for digital health solutions in future.

In this report, you’ll discover:

• Key data and trends showing the scale of medical avoidance as a result of the pandemic, and how digital health technology has helped overcome patient fears
  
  
• Results from the survey showing patient demand for digital health solutions and the future of digital health
  
  
• Top challenges facing medtech and pharma companies looking to deliver digital solutions, and tips on how best to overcome them