Investment, benefit and opportunity high but misconceptions and
interoperability challenge scaling of AI and telehealth;
millennials reluctant to share digital data
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health
technology, today announced its U.S. Future Health Index (FHI) 2019
report, showing that while American healthcare professionals are
among the leaders in leveraging digital health records1 (DHRs), the
United States falls behind the 15-country average for most other
digital technologies examined. Digital health technologies have the
potential to reduce healthcare professional workload, curb
healthcare professional burnout and enhance their satisfaction, yet
many American healthcare professionals are not harnessing the full
potential and support of digital health technology in all aspects
of their work. The report showed that the use of telehealth and
artificial intelligence (AI) are among the largest opportunities
for improvement of quality and cost savings in healthcare.
While 84% of healthcare professionals in the U.S. are using DHRs
(e.g. Electronic Medical Records or Electronic Health Records),
only 46% of U.S. healthcare professionals use telehealth, compared
to the 15-country average of 61% and only about 33% use AI-powered
solutions in their practice or hospital. Countries like Germany
(41%) and China (85%) surpass the U.S. in the use of AI
technologies among healthcare professionals, despite the fact that
the U.S. has one of the highest spends of AI in healthcare for
preliminary diagnosis per capita at $0.06, while China’s spend is
$0.002 per capita and Germany’s is $0.03 per capita2. American
healthcare professionals cited a lack of interoperability (52%)
between record systems as a reason why they do not share health
records among their peers inside their healthcare facility, and 57%
cited a lack of access to these systems.
The Doc is in but you are not ready to see each other
The report also revealed that many American individuals (58%)
have not seen a healthcare professional when they had a medical
reason to do so – often due to lack of time, difficulty in
scheduling an appointment and availability of a specialist or care
provider in their area. The adoption of telehealth technologies
could help mitigate these issues as a quarter (25%) of American
individuals have already reported that being able to consult with
their doctor remotely for follow-up appointments through video or
voice calls has improved their experience of healthcare in the last
five years.
Despite increasing affordability and availability, wide-scale
adoption of digital health technologies in the U.S. still faces
barriers – resulting in delays to improving access, cost and
availability of healthcare and satisfaction for both healthcare
professionals and individuals. The adoption and use of telehealth
and AI is critical to improving these areas. Telehealth can help
tackle access and availability to care challenges, while AI can
help improve the quality of care provided through more accurate
diagnosis and treatment. However, the report shows
misconceptions:
- While American healthcare professionals have embraced DHRs – a
common assumption among healthcare professionals is that these
records add administrative tasks to their workload and reduce time
with patients. For healthcare professionals in the U.S. using DHRs,
they were among the most likely to believe that the adoption of
DHRs in their hospital or practice had a negative impact on time
spent with a patient (53%), healthcare professional workload (61%)
and healthcare professional satisfaction (44%).
- 37% of Americans surveyed associate AI in healthcare with less
human interaction
- Only 20% of individuals associate AI with more accurate
diagnosis
A study by Accenture (2017), notes, “key clinical health AI
applications can potentially create $150 billion in annual savings
for the United States healthcare economy by 2026.”3 This highlights
the need to educate healthcare professionals and individuals on how
AI and digital health technology can improve overall healthcare
experiences and lower costs.
“The Future Health Index 2019 highlights that although
technologies that can improve access to care and patient outcomes
are available today in the U.S., both healthcare professionals and
individuals need support to fully leverage technology and more
seamlessly integrate it to improve the healthcare experience,” said
Vitor Rocha, CEO of Philips North America. “Through intense
collaboration and co-creation of solutions, we can help healthcare
professionals and patients benefit, drive adoption rates and
deliver on the Quadruple Aim in healthcare: better outcomes,
improved patient and staff experience and lower costs.”
Digital natives guard their data
In the United States, behaviors related to digital health
technology and its rate of adoption vary from one generation to the
next. While about two-thirds (63%) of individuals surveyed track
health data sometimes/often/always with an application or device,
42% of millennials4 do not feel that this data is important for
their healthcare professional to know, and 23% of millennials do
not know how to share their data with a healthcare professional.
One in five (20%) millennials5 do not want to share their data, on
par with Americans overall (18%).
In 2017, the Future Health Index showed that nine-in-ten (91%)
U.S. individuals would rather be healthy than rich, if given the
choice. Two years later, that number has decreased to 78% who
report they would actually rather be healthy than wealthy or they
do not know. While still a majority would choose good health over
wealth, the survey indicates increased importance of monetary
issues, particularly among millennials, who are more likely to
choose money over health (29%) than their other generational
counterparts such as baby boomers (15%) and Generation X (22%).
The Future Health Index surveys were fielded from March 4 to May
19, 2019 in 15 countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France,
Germany, India, Italy, The Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, South Africa, Poland, U.K. and U.S.) in their native
language. The survey was conducted online and offline (as relevant
to the needs of each market) with a sample size of about 1,000 per
market for individuals (general population) and about 200 per
market for healthcare professionals. The exceptions were the US and
Germany, which each had slightly larger samples of healthcare
professionals. For the general population audience, the survey is
representative of key demographics e.g. age, gender, region,
location type (rural/urban), income/SEL/education and ethnicity
(where appropriate to ask). This was achieved through a mix of
balancing and weighting. In Saudi Arabia and Brazil, the survey is
nationally representative of the online population. The survey
length was approximately 15 minutes for the U.S., Germany, and the
Netherlands, and approximately 10 minutes for the remaining
markets. The total sample from the survey includes 3,044 healthcare
professionals (defined as those who work in healthcare as a doctor,
surgeon, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, licensed practical
nurse or nurse across a variety of specializations) and 15,114
individuals that represent the adult general population.
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health
technology company focused on improving people's health and
enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy
living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care.
Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and
consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in
the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging,
image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as
well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health
technology portfolio generated 2018 sales of EUR 18.1 billion and
employs approximately 77,000 employees with sales and services in
more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at
www.philips.com/newscenter.
1 Digital health records include Electronic Medical Records
(EMRs), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), etc.
2 Allied Market Research. (2016). Healthcare Artificial Market
Report.
3 Accenture. (2017). Artificial Intelligence (AI): Healthcare’s
New Nervous System. Retrieved from
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-artificial-intelligence-healthcare
4 Based on millennials who use digital health technology or
mobile apps but have never shared the data with their healthcare
professional
5 Based on millennials who have never shared the data with their
healthcare professional
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190718005193/en/
Silvie Casanova Philips North America Tel.: +1-781-879-0692
E-mail: Silvie.casanova@philips.com
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