Five Key Healthcare IT Trends to Watch in 2023
Software integration has become more woven into the fabric of a patient’s experience than many would have even imagined even a few years ago.
Before the pandemic, healthcare was slow to adopt digital technologies. However, as healthcare organizations emerge from a global pandemic, they are increasing their software investments, even in the face of macroeconomic turbulence. As shown in Figure 1, up to 80% of US health systems plan to invest in digital health technologies by 2025.
Figure 1: 80% of US health systems plan to invest in digital by 2025, according to the HIMSS’ Future of Healthcare Report.
In the last year alone, the healthcare tech industry has witnessed many significant digitalization waves, from the advancements in remote patient care, predictive analytics, and medical AI, to AI testing of those very applications. These milestones of progress are unlocking exciting opportunities for the industry. In the meantime, an increasingly complex, connected software ecosystem is also driving the need for an entirely new generation of testing tools that can help accelerate digital health innovations while ensuring quality and security.
A new year brings new goals, opportunities, and challenges. With the industry working hard to address supply chain disruptions, economic uncertainty, and staff shortages, being prepared is the key to success.
So, what does 2023 have in store for healthcare IT? Read on for five key predictions on what to expect in 2023.
Discover the latest trends in healthcare software testing with leading industry experts
1. The Demand for Telehealth Continues to Grow
Telehealth is the new norm in 2023 and beyond.
In a recent American Medical Association (AMA) survey, over 8 out of 10 physicians reported the current use of telehealth. Telehealth, a mere sideline player before the pandemic, is becoming more mature, or what some call Telehealth 2.0. Despite the uncertain economic environment, the US telehealth market will reach $309 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45.1% due to the:
- Growing patient acceptance: 58% of US consumers are interested in telehealth replacing in-person visits because of convenience and speed of care.
- Reducing the cost of a healthcare plan: 55% of providers expect telehealth to lower healthcare costs over the next three to five years.
- Shifting from urgent to specialized care: key telehealth providers are expanding specialized virtual clinics to treat high-cost chronic conditions such as kidney disease, diabetes, and migraines.
Telehealth also gives rise to a new class of connected devices and mobile applications that integrates seamlessly with other hospital systems. Connectivity is essential to streamline data sharing to improve care coordination. With the rise of telehealth, more healthcare organizations are opting for automated mobile testing to meet stakeholder, regulator, and user expectations.
Figure 2: Telehealth is here to stay, but the advanced mobile testing capability is critical to future adoption.
2. AI Drives Tremendous Opportunities to Improve Healthcare Services
Various AI and machine learning (ML) technologies have touched many aspects of our lives, with more patients and providers realizing the benefits of AI. According to Precedence Research, the market size for AI in healthcare has reached $15 billion this year, and the industry can expect continued growth in 2023.
The power of AI lies in its ability to derive actionable insights quickly from massive amounts of data to enable healthcare organizations to boost productivity and reduce costs. According to Accenture, by 2026, AI could save the healthcare industry over $150 billion per year, including robot-assisted surgery ($40 billion), virtual nursing assistants ($20 billion), and administrative workflow assistance ($18 billion).
Specifically, computer vision algorithms help physicians analyze medical imagery in just seconds to detect early warning signs of diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Pharma companies are evaluating AI models to accelerate drug discovery and development. Providers can use AI to identify more effective care paths based on millions of medical studies to offer hyper-personalized treatment.
Outside of frontline clinical work, AI also has applications in healthcare software testing — the ability to auto-generate test cases and expand the test coverage beyond linear paths. This process enables the testing teams to uncover more unexpected user journeys and deliver better software faster.
Together, each of these use cases indicates that the transformative potential of AI is critical for the healthcare industry to thrive now and in the future.
3. Two Key Challenges Pushes the Automation Envelope
Two industry challenges prioritize using automation to enable better care: workforce shortages and financial pressures.
Medical workforce shortages were a concern before the pandemic. However, the pandemic continues to intensify the shortage due to employee burnout, increased emotional stress, and infection risk. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMCs’) prediction, the US is facing a dangerous shortage of up to 124,000 physicians within 11 years.
With widespread physician shortages, many understaffed hospitals are experiencing an increasing number of patients that physicians must treat daily. The impact on physicians by the responsibility of administrative tasks such as documenting and charting in the electronic medical record (EMR) systems continues. Recent research found that almost half of US physicians plan to leave their jobs by 2025. With labor shortages and turnover showing no signs of abating, you can expect to see growing technological investments that can boost physicians’ productivity and alleviate their burnout.
Financial pressures have been another primary incentive behind investments in automation. According to a McKinsey report, inflation will increase US national healthcare spending by $370 billion by 2027. Given the current fluctuating nature of most health systems’ balance sheets, higher operational efficiency means greater resilience.
To navigate these challenges, more healthcare organizations will pivot to robotics process automation (RPA). Providers can benefit from RPA in multiple ways, from reduced administrative tasks to quality control improvements and higher physician productivity. As the technology becomes increasingly mature, RPA can deliver benefits beyond efficiency gains. Enhanced patient experience and better analytics for decision-making can all help support the long-term competitiveness of healthcare organizations.
4. Healthcare Organizations Invest More in AIoT Devices
With more devices connecting to the cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to provide enormous benefits to the healthcare industry to meet the needs of patients.
The artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) promises a more intelligent, connected network of medical devices to improve patient outcomes that help to reduce the strain on existing healthcare systems. One of the game-changing impacts is that AIoT enables patients and physicians to gain real-time insights into health data. This technology allows for greater support anywhere, anytime. Three main AIoT use cases in 2023 include:
Remote patient monitoring (RPM)
It enables patients to get treatment and follow the doctor’s orders at home. In addition, devices like blood pressure and heart monitors can improve clinical prognosis care while easing overburdened hospitals. According to Forrester, about one out of four US patients with chronic diseases will receive treatment by RPM by 2023.
Wearables
The global wearable healthcare device market is projected to go over $150 billion in two years, a big incentive for tech giants, health insurers, and health systems to consider joining the wearables market. New wearable devices will become available in the consumer market to empower patients to collect and analyze their health data and make better decisions about taking care of themselves.
In-clinic IoT
Traditional healthcare institutions are also adding IoT connectivity to their hospitals. For example, they can use sensors for informed decision-making based on real-time monitoring of patients and equipment. This trend continues to gain momentum as IoT plays a more significant role in driving hospital efficiency.
As with EMRs, healthcare leaders must be aware of IoT’s data privacy and security concerns. Software testing strategies must keep up with the increasing complexity and connectivity to ensure all IoT devices function as expected and to keep patient data secure.
5. Establishing Security in the Entire Software Stack
If there is anything that 2022 has shown us, it is the rapid evolution of security threats to healthcare. Indeed, healthcare now faces more cyberattacks than any other industry.
In an extensive network of connected medical devices, any of those devices is an easy entry point for attackers. Private patient information is a high-value target — hospitals using techniques that release updates or bug fixes can fail to keep all software equipped with the most recent version.
According to IBM, the cost of data breaches in healthcare is fast approaching $10 million. As software becomes more prevalent in healthcare, so will the need for advanced trust and security at all system levels. That is why healthcare privacy and security remain an industry imperative in 2023. From a testing perspective, organizations need to build a robust, efficient testing process to keep up with the latest updates and releases and ensure every application is highly secure and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant.
Summary
Ultimately, all these predictions drive the need for faster, more intelligent testing tools in healthcare.
As software permeates healthcare organizations, well-defined testing strategies are a core enabler of digital innovation to enable a consistent patient experience across multiple systems. At Keysight Eggplant, we are committed to making testing smarter, faster, and more secure for any platform to safeguard the accelerating digital transformation of healthcare in the years to come.