The 5 prooV Predictions for Healthcare in 2019

The healthcare industry has seen incredible advancements over the course of 2018.

The media attention of the gene editing tool CRISPR in 2017 led to some of the earliest FDA-approved uses of the technology in 2018.

Couple that with major advances in immunotherapy, drug-resistance research, transplantations and health sensors, the industry has moved to revolutionize the patient and provider experiences in a big way.

As amazing as the past year has been, 2019 looks to outperform it in virtually every way.

From revolutionary health coverage solutions to the anticipated reveal and performance of long-gestating technologies, the coming year has the potential to drastically change the industry for the better.

Here are 2019’s prooV predictions for innovation in the healthcare industry.

1. Blockchain Will See Real-World Application

With so much information shared between patients and providers, and the importance of privacy and confidentiality in healthcare, blockchain has long been showing potential for a security revolution in the industry.

Technology and innovation experts have often held blockchain up as the next big thing in healthcare data security.

As a virtually tamper-proof data security solution, blockchain seems like a must-have solution in an industry tasked with properly securing everything from medical records to payment information.

However, blockchain faces some rather large hurdles that have prevented it from living up to its promise in the healthcare industry up to this point.

Hampered by deliberate transactional speeds and inherent data storage limits, blockchain needs to overcome these issues to be as helpful as enterprises would like it to be in real-world healthcare applications.

2019 will be the year that blockchain will truly be put to the test, and it will either become one of the biggest things to happen in healthcare data security and transform the reliability of medical records and other healthcare information, or it will fizzle under the weight of its own unrealized hype.

2. Non-traditional Providers Will Disrupt the Market

After transforming the way people think about online retail, voice-driven tech, shipping, in-person shopping experiences and countless other areas, Amazon made their intention to disrupt the healthcare industry known earlier this year – and they are not alone.

Several other tech giants including Google, Apple, Microsoft and IBM have announced intentions to break into areas of healthcare, and specifically telehealth.

Their outside perspectives and desire to break into long-stagnating aspects of the industry mean increased competition that is likely to positively affect accessibility and affordability for customers.

Whether this means more affordable prescriptions, more extensive provider options or something else altogether remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure, healthcare coverage will likely look very different by the end of 2019.

3. AI Will Become A More Common Diagnosis Tool

A growing number of providers have been implementing AI-driven customer service solutions such as advanced chatbots, but in 2019, AI is not going to be limited to just customer service anymore.

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In May 2018, the FDA approved an AI algorithm designed to analyze x-rays and diagnose wrist fractures. This technology has been demonstrated to be as accurate as the work of trained radiologists. That kind of analytical reliability will inevitably extend to applications beyond x-ray analysis.

In 2019, AI-driven patient care is going to become a much more accepted tool for medical professionals to deliver more accurate care to their patients.

4. Virtual Care Will Bring Back House Calls

Telehealth has begun to seep into every corner of the industry and is set to break out in a big way in 2019.

The reason for this is one powerful word – convenience.

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Despite major strides in providing a better patient experience, healthcare still suffers from an image problem. Long wait times in ERs and doctors’ offices often cause people to perceive healthcare as a serious pain.

Virtual care solutions that connect providers and specialists with patients in real time offer a facelift to the long-since abandoned practice of house calls.

From the convenience and comfort of their own home, patients can get personalized attention in the form of a video, phone or text response to their query or request.

In 2019, personalized care, whether driven by intimate telehealth consultations or AI analytics will go a long way toward revamping the healthcare industry’s image.

5. Changing Demographics Will Increase the Innovation

The globalization of healthcare innovation holds great potential for the industry as a whole.

Asia represents more than half of the world’s population, and yet a majority of healthcare innovations have traditionally come from the West.

However, this trend has steadily been changing.

Economic growth in major population centers like China and India has logically driven an increased focus on healthcare innovation geared specifically toward these populations.

This balancing of the innovation scales represents a move toward increased diversity of innovative discoveries and treatment approaches that will ultimately cover a broader range of health conditions and demographics in moving forward.

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