2019-2022 is a tumultuous period in the annals of global health history as no single country on the earth has announced that it remained immune to the outbreak of Global coronavirus, the COVID-2019.
Since December 2019 when the earliest incidents of infection came to light, till date on 3rd April 2022, 491 million people from 220 countries worldwide are virus affected, with a death toll of over one million. The crisis is still there and not yet over crisis. The pandemic has brought challenges and opportunities for humanity, as it taught us the ways to fight back and emerge victorious survivors. Digital technologies have provided enough tools to pierce the barriers of the forced market shutdowns, physical distancing, and isolation.
Digital disruption in the wake of the pandemic outbreak was mindboggling. However fragmented, the B2C consumer package goods retail and wholesale industry have heralded several new digital practices. According to several market surveys, retail eCommerce sales grew 50% in 2021, generating $4.9 trillion in revenue and will reach to 7.4 trillion mark by 2025.
The global digital health market was $201.24 billion in 2021, which has expanded to $252.47 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.5%. By 2026, the digital health market is expected to reach $596.56 billion with a CAGR of 24.0%.
Digital has turned critical for reaching tens, thousands, and millions affected in the rural and urban areas alike with medical care during the COIVD-19 pandemic. Surveys in many parts of N. America and Europe have suggested that 80% of the patients prefer digital health over the traditional health channels of physical examinations and paying personal visits to hospitals. A vast section of the global population today is digital savvy and prefers telemedical consultation to pay a personal visit to
a physician during and after the pandemic.
More than 70 million digital-savvy baby boomers in the US have relied on online medical consultation for chronic health issues like diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiac care, oncology, and sleep apnea in 2021. From seeking doctor’s appointments, consultations, pharmacies, and patients have sought digital help to avoid personal contacts and the risks associated with the pandemic.
Patients are the central and the most essential part of digital health. Hospitals, labs, doctors, technicians, nurses and counselors, pharmacies, diagnostic canters, healthcare device manufacturers, insurance providers, and the organizations engaged in clinical trials and pharmaceutical research form an integral part of digital health.
Sales and marketing of the innovative digital health technologies, training and outreach, advocacy and patient awareness, personalized medical and mental healthcare to patients, emotional support, and counseling. Communication and exchange of information and patient-specific data are very crucial in offering effective digital health services.
The global healthcare spending will be over 10 trillion by 2022. With a revenue share of 36.34% and a market share of 45%, North America remains the market leader. According to a healthcare industry survey, the US will spend $900 billion in the health sector by 2025, followed by $420 billion in Europe. Asia emerges as the fastest-growing market for healthcare spending with a CARG rate of 11.7%, generating $800 billion for the same period.
The COVID-19 has drastically disrupted the existing healthcare infrastructure and widened the traditional gaps in healthcare provisions to ethnic and racial minorities and socially and economically marginalized communities. COVID-19 has exacerbated global poverty due to a lack of livelihood and source income. Over 132 million people in the Global South will be vulnerable by 2030.
No individual patient healthcare needs are the same as others and may need personalized health attention. Exact diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, care, and post-therapeutic or surgical care are critical and need a perfect roadmap to accomplish it.
Electronic signature software offers a flexible platform that integrates patient healthcare information as data, documents, and images to facilitate swift, agile, and personalized health care solutions for individuals.
Electronic Signature Software is inclusive of a data management system. It is handy in integrating the patient requirements, including patient prescriptions, images, and other data as electronic health records in the cloud-based repositories where a doctor or a healthcare expert can access them to verify and suggest treatment options.
It facilitates end-to-end patient healthcare such as booking a physician appointment, scheduling patients to a suitable consultant, virtual medical consultation, exchange of patient information with pharmacists, diagnostic centres, clinical labs, and patient rehabilitation canters. Patients need not run from the pillar to post by physically carrying medical records. Stakeholders can avail any patient information stored in cloud-based or internet-based technologies to facilitate patient convenience.
Ensuring data privacy and security to sensitive patient information is one of the major concerns of the healthcare industry. Electronically signed documents are tamper-proof and are encrypted. Only the intended stakeholders can use this information, as this software avoids data breaches and security lapses.
Exchanging patient data and information is made easy with the electronic signature platforms. Document management features within this software offer integrated solutions to organize patient information systematically.
Stakeholders involved in this process can share, exchange, archive, and retrieve patient data, medical records, and images instantly. Users can send or receive bulk data from the cloud. Multiple stakeholders can act and complete all the formalities online at once, including fixing an electronic signature to make it a legally valid document.
B2B healthcare stakeholders can use this platform to create documents in the backdrop of registered colorful logos and watershed marks on every document they dispense to their clients and customers. This feature helps build a unique brand image. Organizations can create a document or template of their preference to meet patient and vendor onboarding needs. Organizations can create, store, and reuse multiple templates to communicate with stakeholders throughout the supply chain instantly.
Electronic signature software relieves the physicians and the healthcare providers from the endless administrative work of entering patient da and tarecords multiple times. It is helpful in thoroughly documenting patient information and archiving it in the central repository. All the documents created using this platform are indexed and get a unique ID number. This will facilitate instant data mining and retrieving using a search option.
The medical insurance claim is one of the major concerns for the patient once admitted for medical treatment. Hospitals can quickly share patient information with the insurance providers so that the patient can fill out online forms to avail themselves of their claims. Since the insurance sector relies on documental evidence for patient claim management, electronic signature software can go a long way in providing immediate relief to the patients with financial help to support their treatment.
Electronic signature software is compatible with devices, such as laptops, desktops, tablets, and mobile. Increased smartphone penetration helps reach patients with medical and healthcare information to remote areas.
Digital health would remain far from reality without a thorough digital ecosystem that promotes flexible end-to-end patient care and services to the patients from filling a form for physician appointment till admission, treatment, and checkout with exclusive features. Electronic signature software has evolved to meet all legal and regional compliance issues to ensure patient safety and privacy.
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