Pandemic paves way for innovative hybrid healthcare

Maya Ward, associate director, Gresham House Ventures, writes about how the pandemic means that a hybrid healthcare model is readily achievable.

While the heroic abilities of the NHS have been on display throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the last year has also exposed the longstanding limitations and frailties of our underfunded healthcare system.

With an estimated 100,000 unfilled posts and staff turnover expected to increase due to emotional exhaustion, the health service’s workforce stands to be further stretched by an ageing population. By 2030, one in five people in the UK will be aged 65 or over – individually costing the NHS 2.5 times more than the average 30-year-old.

However, a wave of private investment is flowing into the sector. We are seeing a new type of hybrid healthcare system emerge, where the sizeable supply-demand disparity is being partly alleviated by innovative enterprises accelerating the structural shifts brought forward by the pandemic.

Major crises are often the catalyst for innovation. Just as the Great Fire of London taught city planners to build smarter, more resistant urban environments, COVID-19 could help shape a more efficient healthcare system.

Catalysed by COVID

While healthcare has previously been a laggard in technological take up, the pandemic has accelerated both the adoption and proliferation of digital health solutions. The opportunity for modernisation has received the buy-in of healthcare professionals and patients, who witnessed the practical application of digitalisation first-hand during the pandemic.

Notably, the pandemic has accelerated remote patient monitoring via digital medical devices. Wearable healthcare technology is becoming more advanced – smaller, cheaper and more accurate. This better enables devices to be paired with digital applications that deliver real-time health insights and longitudinal data sets, which are particularly beneficial when supporting people suffering from chronic conditions.

For example, during COVID-19, oximeters have been used to keep patients out of hospitals. If a patient’s readings start to decline, a healthcare professional is notified and can intervene. Remote technology is also increasingly being applied in hospitals and care homes, where wireless monitoring devices in the room, rather than physically on patients, can be used to detect falls or a change in vitals, alerting healthcare professionals of incidents or patient deterioration.

This supports the wider trend of patient empowerment. Patients can make active lifestyle changes to improve their health based on self-analysis aided by digital devices and software, which in turn saves time and money for the healthcare system over the long term.

Tech-enabled diagnostics and imaging tools should also help ensure greater standardisation. There is a significant shortage of radiologists in the UK, but tech platforms that utilise artificial intelligence to carry out initial screenings of an MRI or CT – which are then verified by a radiologist – better leverage healthcare professionals’ time and often provide more consistent outcomes.

As a result, we should see the lines between primary and secondary care blur, with technology facilitating more joined up care provision in local ecosystems, involving pharmacies and community care providers, and many digital providers straddling the primary / secondary lines. In this way, digitalisation should actively support the move towards integrated care systems.

Firms at the forefront

These emerging hybrid healthcare solutions offer a significant investment opportunity. The digital healthcare software and services companies we invest in leverage technology to better support clinical outcomes, as well as enable greater access to healthcare professionals. This is about ensuring patients access the right support in the right format at the right time.

For example, eConsult, digital triage services provider to GP surgeries now has a c.50% market share and covers more than 3,300 GP practices as a result of growth acceleration. Developed by clinicians, the service enables the remote closure of c.70% of cases – hugely advantageous in optimising resource and capital allocation.

While a hybrid healthcare system can improve outcomes for patients and better leverage time-poor healthcare professionals, a long-term approach is vital. This is where the active engagement and deep networks of a healthcare focussed venture capital trust can provide support and long-term capital.

For example, our networks allow us to ensure private healthcare providers possess diverse skillsets. Following our recommendation, eConsult recently appointed a non-executive director deep experience in driving growth through effective proposition development.

With a proven ability to bring small innovative firms to scale, venture capital trusts can help pave the way for a better healthcare future.