Our Medical System Cannot Survive the Coronavirus Without Making the Shift to Remote Digital Healthcare Yotam Drechsler‏ Follow Mar 31 · 6 min read

While many of us are sitting at home on our computers, working remotely and practicing social distancing due to the global pandemic, individuals who require medical assistance are facing a double-edged sword: Risk contracting Coronavirus in a medical facility, or stay home and risk the implications of foregoing medical care.

The COVID-19 spread has created a world where hospitals have become dangerous environments for individuals, especially for the elderly, or those who have pre-existing conditions. The pandemic has created an enormous need for alternative ways to successfully provide healthcare aside from in-person visits.

In the era of instant communication services, from Chatbots to video calling, where we can receive most services from the comfort of our own homes, it is still not considered the norm to receive remote healthcare. This is due to the very limited adoption of current digital solutions within medical systems.

By now, it’s clear that this pandemic is the real thing. Evidence shows that the novel Coronavirus is considered to be even more contagious than the flu. We are realizing that the virus might be around for the next few years in one way or another, as experts estimate that we’ll have the first vaccine in at least one year from now.

This crisis has hit us with a rude awakening that even the healthcare systems in first world countries aren’t prepared to fully withstand a global pandemic. It’s becoming abundantly obvious that this illness will transform the healthcare landscape in a significant way in order to cope with the new reality.

A paradigm shift in healthcare is required in order to continue providing medical care for those in need

As we navigate these stormy waters, there’s a gigantic iceberg looming in the distance that we’re about to hit: The ability to treat patients with complex medical conditions, in addition to supporting inpatient and outpatient care. All around the world medical staff are working through a near collapse of healthcare systems to treat the growing number of infected patients while supporting the rest of the populations that require medical care.

The number of people impacted is huge. In a survey conducted by the American Hospital Association in 2018, it was documented that hospitals in the US received over 36 million inpatient stays, and in 2017 it was recorded that hospitals provided 880 million outpatient services. That means that in 2020, in the wake of current events, millions of people are sorely lacking access to relevant healthcare services.

Even more alarming, a person with a pre-existing condition would jeopardize their life by entering a hospital during this time period. Even if the healthcare workers follow every sterilization protocol in the book, there are no guarantees. Patients with complex medical conditions such as neurological disorders, heart failure, or diabetes require consistent treatment or risk irreversible damage; possibly even death.

One such example from last week is from the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, announcing that individuals who take disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) to treat conditions such as MS, as well as those with other immunocompromising diseases, are at a higher risk of developing serious complications if they were to contract the virus.

In Israel alone, we’ve already seen a sharp drop in attendance of patients with chronic disorders such as heart disease in hospitals across the country. Many associations, like the Israel Neurological Association, have called for moving as many treatments to the home as possible in order to ensure that people don’t forgo imperative life-saving treatments because they fear contracting the virus. We are seeing similar situations play out in most other countries as well.

Additionally, there has been a significant reduction of hospital staff and the reallocation of resources in attempt to cope with the spread of the virus. Institutions in the EU have already begun decreasing resources allocated for treating stroke patients, for example.

So, even if these patients were to show up to a hospital, they would likely be turned away at the door. With experts predicting little change in the virus’s status in the coming months, the numbers of untreated patients will likely rise.

The latter impact is further amplified as most clinical trials around the world have ceased or been halted indefinitely over the past few weeks, resulting in the production of new technologies being significantly delayed or even going bankrupt.

We cannot accept this as our reality; people will continue suffering from strokes and diabetic episodes and will need medical care. The collateral damage of this situation is only in its inception, and the healthcare system needs to implement an immediate solution for this urgent problem.

The good news is that the tools to create a solution are at our fingertips — literally

The fourth industrial revolution, digital transformation, has existed for some time. While Software as a Service has emerged as most common business model and other industries such as telecommunications, music, and finance have already implemented remote services, the healthcare sector has lagged in the adoption of remote services.

Cloud-based medical technologies have been discussed for years, but regulatory and privacy barriers have made it difficult for new technologies to penetrate the market. MedTech companies aiming at working in a rapid and agile environment had to struggle to turn the “aircraft carrier” of healthcare. The various stakeholders continue to be cautious, for a change, and a viable business model for these solutions has not been well defined.

This has resulted in a drawn-out struggle to see a successful business direction emerge for digital health solutions. Yet, in the last few years, privacy protocols such as HIPAA and GDPR have slowly been shaped, resulting in digital health solutions only now beginning to receive FDA approval.

It’s the current crisis that has caused the healthcare system to face the looming realization that there’s no other option, and we must accelerate the adoption process and make a change. We are experiencing a major need, and the only way to avoid a complete crisis is to adapt at lightning speed. There needs to be a shift from medical care based in a hospital environment to care adapted for the patient’s home.

Many of these home solutions will be more effective, accessible, affordable, and user friendly than anything currently available. They will allow us to uplift the standard of care for these populations in need, creating a significant change.

Digital healthcare solutions are slowly making headway, although not at the rate that we’d like to see in the face of today’s challenges. Companies like Healthy.io, Sweetch and swyMed offer remote services such as virtual conferencing and home health monitoring for disease detection and prevention, while companies like NovoCure have identified the need for a remote treatment for chronic patients via a home-use medical device.

This is a daunting time that we’re living in. The consensus now is that this pandemic will cause the economy to plummet into a recession, ending the “longest-ever economic expansion on record”.

There is a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to grab the horse by the reins. Hospitals, regulatory bodies, HMOs and the general public must join forces to identify the solutions available that can fill this need. We must work to complete all the necessary steps to push these solutions to market as fast as possible. New and attractive regulatory fast tracks, innovative clinical trial designs and forward-thinking business models are just a few of these necessary next steps.

It’s up to us now to make the switch to remote digital healthcare. We can’t lose this opportunity.