With arguably the most complex healthcare sector in the world, change for the U.S. healthcare industry has not historically been rapid. However, with the coronavirus pandemic and growing necessity for more digitization when it comes to patient care, change has occurred quite rapid. Top industry leaders believe these changes are only the beginning.
Business Insider spoke with a number of healthcare leaders about the future of the sector, and according to many industry CEOs--despite the dangers of the coronavirus itself, furloughs, pay cuts, and a general uncertain future--a number of advances during the pandemic have shown great promise.
According to Giovanni Caforio, CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), the healthcare industry is "learning valuable lessons on being nimble, collaborating in new ways and leveraging talent." He pointed out that, despite the inherent tragedy and risk associated with COVID-19, there's also been more potential to reinforce collaboration within and between academics, government, and private companies as everyone focuses on managing and combating the virus. "The virus has brought out some of the best in humanity," Caforio praised, "through a strong focus on philanthropy and relief efforts, science and innovation, and incredible support for the health care workers and those on the front lines."
When it comes to digitizing healthcare and advancing innovation, ChristianaCare CEO Janice Nevin noted, "We accomplished two to three years of work in about two to three weeks." Even before the coronavirus, she and her team predicted that everything would move toward the digital. When that became a necessity, the task was able to be accomplished in much less time than earlier imagined. Nevin believes that digitization and virtual patient monitoring won't end with coronavirus but that these innovations will continue to help many more patients who represent a variety of conditions. According to Nevin, "Everything we learned about managing COVID-19 on the virtual monitoring practice can be applied to multiple chronic diseases, including diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma."
However, change has obviously not all been positive. American Well (NYSE: AMWL) co-CEO Ido Schoenberg commented, "We are in for a challenging period as a nation," noting that the fact that many elderly and chronically ill are stuck at home creates numerous burdens and challenges. Indeed, for those unable to socialize or exercise enough, this may present many mental health challenges, in addition to the already overwhelming stakes when it comes to physical health management. The overall impact of this tendency on the mental health system has yet to be realized.
Cambia Health Solutions CEO Mark Ganz believes that we're on the verge of a "mental health epidemic" due to the virus. Ganz pointed out that mental and physical health are interrelated, and that the path toward healing in this country may involve not neglecting mental health for the sake of monitoring physical health. "There's an opportunity for this country to realize that mental health and physical health are not so different," he said. "They are completely interrelated and one of the paths to people getting physically healthy is going to be paying better attention to their mental health."