MBN USA

June 13, 2022

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AI, virtual care increasingly impact health care, pharmaceutics

The digital transformation of the health care and pharma fields will continue into and beyond 2022. The telehealth consultations that moved office visits into the virtual sphere to access socially distant medical care in the initial stages of the pandemic has grown into a welcomed and growing method of administering care for physical and mental health. While not yet universally adopted, acceptance of telehealth is expected to grow as the availability of wireless internet spreads.

During the first months of the pandemic, the percentage of health care consultations that were conducted remotely ballooned from 1% to 44%. 

Retailers are revamping their health care services to meet the need for virtual primary care. In February, Amazon rolled out its nationwide telehealth program, Amazon Care, offering virtual care nationwide and in-person care in select cities. Last year, Walmart Inc. acquired telehealth provider MeMD to help bring its Walmart Health concept to market.

Remote health care offers the ability to examine and treat not only patients with compromised immune systems, but also those in areas with little access to health professionals. 

Equity in health care delivery

Many patients, however, need or prefer in-person services even when they have no way to access them. Earlier this year, CVS Health Corp. partnered with Uber Health as part of CVS’s Health Zones, an initiative that provides concentrated investments in to reduce health disparities and advance health equity in high-risk communities. The program will provide transportation to help ensure people in areas with few health providers can get the health care services they need.

Eileen Howard Boone, senior vice president, corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, CVS Health, said, “With the Uber Health platform, we’ll provide critical transportation to people within communities who need it most, giving them access to health care services so they can live healthier lives and to jobs and educational programs that can help them reach their full potential.”

Technology gaining momentum 

In addition to telehealth offerings, high-tech tools are reshaping the way the industry identifies needs and solutions, improving speed and accuracy. 

Virtual reality: VR is not just for gamers and those seeking simulated travel. It is increasingly being used to train doctors and surgeons, providing them with a way to explore the human body without risk to patients or the use of medical cadavers. 

Digital sensors: Data collected from smartphone apps and wearables can aid in the early diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. Last year, Merck & Co. Inc. teamed up with Evidation Health Inc. to explore the possibilities of using smartphone apps and wearables to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases. 

Artificial intelligence: AI can analyze vast amounts of unstructured data in the form of images, clinical research trials, documented spread of communicable diseases and medical claims to identify patterns and insight typically undetectable by human skill sets. 

The use of this tool speeds up the process of medical coding, documentation and administrative tasks; connects virtual agents with patients seeking customized health solutions; and helps clinicians predict or diagnose diseases. It will also improve preventative medicine by helping clinicians predict a rise in illnesses, as well as when and where those illnesses are likely to occur. 

AI will also help with the discovery of new drugs. In late 2021, formulas were discovered through the use of AI-enhanced lab experimenting. These drugs have the potential to cure rare and dangerous diseases.

Simulated or digital twins: The use of virtual patients — or xenobots — involves creating models informed by real-world data that can be used to simulate any system or process, such as drug trials and treatments. It can reduce the amount of time needed to put new medicines or procedures into routine use. This tool can be used to model individual organs but is expected to simulate entire bodies in 2023.

Synthetic biology: This field involves redesigning organisms so they produce substances such as medicine or gain new abilities, such as sensing changes in the environment. As ongoing research and development into therapies expand treatments for treating and preventing the virus, the threat of new pandemics can be reduced or even eliminated. Synthetic biology can also make it possible for critical medicines in short supply to be produced on demand. Synthetic biology will enable more equitable access to essential medicines. 

A concern and an opportunity

Technological advances in the health care and pharmaceutical supply chains are predicted to continue for many years. While offering opportunities for life-changing progress, a major downside to AI and other high-tech initiatives is susceptibility to hacking. 

Protecting privacy and security will remain a major concern for health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, patients and others involved in the industry. Cybersecurity vendors increasingly will be called upon to prevent breaches this year and beyond as large pools of data move around a vulnerable metaverse.