Like many other industries, healthcare in 2020 will be hugely impacted by both funding and technology.

Technology and new digital therapies are tackling more and more problems for doctors as Apple, Google and other technology giants have been competing for a stronger presence.  Exciting developments using VR such as Touch Surgery, which develops apps and augmented reality technology for medical training (such as surgery simulations so doctors can practise operating) will be big news this year.

Another big development for 2020 is the suggestion that blood samples and live saving chemotherapy kits may be delivered by drone to save valuable time travelling between hospitals and GP surgeries. If trials are successful, it could be used throughout the health service, saving hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

The Transgender debate continues in 2020, as despite huge advances in early interventions for children pre-puberty, some professionals are claiming that children are too confused to give consent.  Susan Evans, a former psychiatric nurse at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, said children should be protected from “experimental” and “invasive medical treatment”. 

Some of the issues and topics you may be facing in 2020:

• Voice-enabled prescription refills may be the latest in technology, but are patients ready for this?  Likewise, are medical professionals really using IoT to become more connected with patients and other professionals?
• Digital healthcare applications now enable many patients to schedule their own appointments – is this working?  Or are there inevitable clashes with receptionists and with systems?
• Can fitness trackers really take the place of group activity and human coaching?  Where does mental health fit into the increasing reliance on apps instead of other humans to determine what we do with our days?
• Patients are increasingly finding that medical practitioners use technology in the consultation to explain an illness or a medication side effects, or to find information on something new – is this increasing confidence in the medical profession, or doing exactly the opposite?
• Home monitoring systems, Portal Technology and EHRs continue to improve in 2020 in terms of efficiency and widespread adoption, but competition is fierce
• In Ireland, increased dissatisfaction with the ‘specialist’ nature (i.e., head injuries at Beaumont) of certain regional hospitals has led to talks about more integrated healthcare that can deal with real emergencies in one place (rather than high risk patients being moved to 3 or 4 different hospitals during treatment)
• The continuing ‘trolley crisis’ in Ireland continues to bring up discussions around the need for an improved model of care…meanwhile in the UK overcrowded hospitals are having to take nurses off wards to look after scores of patients in corridors waiting for beds – the so called ‘corridor nurses’ highlights the growing NHS crisis in the UK
• Increased communication and awareness of mental health does not match the funding being provided – many charities springing up in this area cannot keep up with the waiting lists and are not automatically aligned with other services

Healthcare Market Research can help you to understand how patients, medical professionals and other key stakeholders use, talk about and feel about your product or service. In addition, QualiProjects ensures that information gained in the research process is converted into recommendations and action plans which can be used effectively to improve services, as opposed to being ‘standalone.’ Get in touch today for an initial chat around your objectives and future plans!

Case Studies

An international pharma brand wanted to understand how to reach rheumatologists regarding its new drug.  We conducted depth interviews with specialists in order to gauge awareness of other drugs available, as well as who manufactures what.  The output helped the brand to understand how to improve relationships and engagement with end-prescribers as well as predicting likely uptake at launch and ways to improve this.

A manufacturer of a vitamin multi-mix wanted to understand how and why consumers may make decisions to buy vitamins in the supermarket versus the pharmacy.  We conducted a series of intercepts followed by accompanied shops to understand the point at which consumers made this decision in store and who or what would influence their decision to either switch brands or buy more.

An international company focused on developing neuro-stimulation and neuro-diagnostic solutions for children and adults, to help medical practitioners remotely monitor and play a role in home-based therapies, wanted to gauge reactions to a new app that would test a person’s likelihood of being diagnosed positive for ADD or ADHD. We moderated focus groups with teens and adults to discuss difficulties with current diagnostic tools and the various ways in which the app could improve early-diagnosis stats as well as life after diagnosis through its recommendations and treatment programmes.

Here are some examples of the brands I have worked on either as QualiProjects, or under the umbrella of another agency, using a range of methodologies including Focus Group Discussions, Teledepths, IDIs, Expert Interviews and Cognitive Debriefing:

This post is also available in: Spanish French Portuguese (Portugal) German