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Digital health is poised to make the healthcare sector more accessible, efficient, and personalised than ever before with the use of technology.
FREMONT, CA: Digital health innovations are reshaping the way healthcare is accessed and delivered, presenting new challenges for healthcare providers to manage. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital health technologies as healthcare providers worldwide try to utilise technology to address crises. The trend towards the digitalisation of healthcare, coupled with the impact of the epidemic, has led to the swift adoption of technology and the hastening of digital health transformations.
The digital health revolution is expected to have a significant and long-lasting impact on how healthcare is accessed and delivered. This transformation is likely to bring about new and unforeseen risks, leading to potential liabilities.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the discussion about eHealth within the healthcare property and casualty (P&C) industry. Insurance companies, brokers, and clients are grappling with real-time liability and insurance applications of the rapid escalation in digital health deployment, adaption and investment. It has been observed that the integration of technology and healthcare can lead to both financial and physical harm.
What is Digital Health?
The combination of healthcare and technology is not a recent development. For instance, the healthcare industry incorporated computers in the 1990s and da Vinci's robotic surgical system was launched in 2000. Additionally, CT scan systems have become increasingly advanced over time. The term eHealth refers to the use of the internet and related technologies to organise and provide health services and information. It encompasses not just technological advancements, but also a new approach to working, a mindset, and dedication to global, networked thinking aimed at improving healthcare at the local, regional, and global levels by utilising information and communication technology.
Digital health innovation is a significant and distinct technological force that encompasses fundamental cultural changes and a completely new approach to healthcare delivery. As the upcoming frontier of technological progress in healthcare, there are high hopes for digital health's capacity to positively disrupt the industry.
The Digital Health Ecosystem
The digital health landscape consists of various technologies and ideas, and the following segments are just a few examples, and the list is not exhaustive. The digital health ecosystem includes interconnected areas like social media, the Internet of Things (IoT), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Data as a Service (DaaS). There are also health information systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs) and patient portals, electronic prescribing systems, picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), laboratory information systems, and patient administration systems.
Challenges Faced by the Digital Health Industry
There are significant obstacles that the digital health sector must confront and should be taken into account in any insurance and liability evaluation:
The legal and regulatory frameworks cannot keep up with the speed of innovation, adoption, and usage in digital health as Consumers are concerned about security and privacy. The adoption and utilisation of new technologies in digital health raise ethical concerns, particularly regarding commercialisation and monetisation. Technical (software, platforms, etc.) and structural (disparate providers, payors, and regulators of healthcare) interoperability issues and fragmented systems are significant challenges in digital health. Competing motivations and misalignments between payors, providers, and patients are substantial challenges in digital health. Determining priorities and reaching agreements among them can be difficult.
Digital health implementations can lead to equity issues, particularly related to digital literacy and access such as the digital divide, and their impact on vulnerable groups such as seniors also known as the grey divide.
Digital health contexts involve multiple activities, entities, and corresponding risks and harms that can occur. Entities, such as providers, use, develop, or implement digital health technologies to enable patient interactions such as diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and management.
Digital health insurance considerations
It is important to remain attentive to shifting liability and insurance conditions in an emerging and rapidly growing field. The advancement of digital health is leading to the adoption of new delivery and operational models that may result in unexpected risks and liability. Risks and liability related to digital health can emerge from providing technology-based products and services to patients, providers, payors, and other stakeholders, both in and outside of clinical environments. Digital health encompasses a vast range of products and services that are being employed in innovative ways and various settings.
The future of digital health is exciting and promising, as technology continues to evolve and improve the way one manages and monitors health. The future of digital health looks bright, with technology poised to make healthcare more accessible, efficient, and personalized than ever before.
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