The latest report “Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision 2020” outlines the need for healthcare organizations to transform digital experiences between people and technology to lead the future of care. They have to be more open in creating a digital healthcare environment as customers

Accenture surveyed 259 payer and provider healthcare executives.

The report found that a majority (85%) of executives agree that technology is now part of any human experience including healthcare; and 45% of the respondents believe the latest and emerging technologies and scientific innovations will disrupt the industry.

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“The intersection between digital technology and healthcare experiences has certainly accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and leading the future of care will demand rethinking core assumptions about the intersection of people and technology,” said Dr. Kaveh Safavi, a senior managing director in Accenture’s Health practice. “People’s perceptions of and relationships with technology are changing, and to adapt, healthcare payers and providers need to redesign digital experiences.”

Artificial intelligence

The research found that 69% of healthcare payers and providers are already piloting or adopting artificial intelligence, which will enable fluid interactions between human and machines. Yet only 39% said they have inclusive design or human-centric design principles in place to support human-machine collaboration.

More than two-thirds (71%) of the executives believe that robotics will enable the next generation of services in the physical world, yet 54% believe that their employees will be challenged to figure out how to work with robots.

The report also found that despite benefiting broadly from technology, people are expressing concerns about how and for what it’s used. A majority (70%) of healthcare consumers polled as part of the research said they are concerned about data privacy and commercial tracking associated with their online activities, behaviors, location and interests. The same number (70%) of consumers also said they expect their relationship with technology to be more prominent in their lives over the next three years.

With more than three-quarters (78%) of the healthcare provider and payer executives saying they believe that the stakes for innovation have never been higher, the report notes that “getting it right” will require new ways of innovating with ecosystem partners and third-party organizations.