Last month, our feature article looked at the trends underlying Accenture Technology Labs' vision of next-generation healthcare. In this article we go behind the scenes, to take a look at Accenture's Online Health Services—the latest technology prototype developed by the R&D team at the Labs.
The 80 / 20 Rule…
In today's healthcare industry, 80 percent of healthcare costs are directed towards 20 percent of patients, according to Managed Care Magazine. These are typically patients with chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes who require constant or regular hospitalization, medication and doctor or specialist support. While their care requirement is constant, today they are just receiving "episodic" treatment. In other words, between their trips to the doctor's office and emergency room, these patients are invisible to their care providers.
The Online Health Services prototype from Accenture looks set to change all of that.
The LifeShirt That Could Save Lives…
The prototype uses wearable home health devices to enable remote, yet continuous patient monitoring. Picture this:
Sarabeth Mitchell is 78 years old and has a history of chronic heart failure. Sarabeth wears a LifeShirt (which looks and feels like an undershirt) that monitors in real time more than 30 of her physiological signs. When her depth of respiration rises and is accompanied by a slight weight gain, the LifeShirt sends an alert to a cardiac nurse at the remote call center. The nurse has a number of options available to her but begins by calling up a complete summary of Sarabeth's cardiac data looking back a week, a month or even six months. If she has concerns or questions, the nurse can call upon a specialist to look at the virtual data and help her to decide the next course of action. This could mean an immediate doctor's visit or the ability to resolve the problem right there without Sarabeth even having to leave home.
So Who Benefits?
The healthcare industry has no way of predicting the needs of an individual patient and is thus obliged to work reactively to provide patient care. "Online Health Services offers a win-win-win alternative," says Dadong Wan, a researcher at the Labs. "It enables doctors and other care providers to spend their time more effectively, by caring for their patients continually."
Patients benefit from improved quality healthcare and 24-hour peace of mind. Other stakeholders would also benefit: insurance companies could offer lower premiums as incentives to patients who use monitoring devices or take steps to improve their health; employers would benefit from increased productivity through reduced time off for medical appointments and emergencies; and healthcare professionals would benefit from effective decision making and higher performance through readily available patient history.
The Future for Online Health Services
While early pilots have focused on patients with chronic conditions, Accenture Technology Labs is also exploring the potential of offering continuous care to the elderly and to children, both of whom would benefit enormously from being treated at home. Online Health Services represents Accenture's vision for the future of healthcare. And we are working hard with our key stakeholders to bring this vision into reality by making quality and affordable care available to everyone who would benefit from it.
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