Digital solutions are slowly becoming more relevant in our life. We now rely on applications for tasks such as performing the income statement or even birth control. Citizens are also slowly becoming more conscious about their health status and monitor their health and fitness using wearables and applications. With an eager market for digital solutions and healthcare systems becoming overwhelmed due to a lack of doctors and nurses, digital solutions are tapping into the healthcare sector with new applications popping out every day.
In the “2018 Consumer Survey on Digital Health” survey performed by Accenture, 41% of the Spanish populations uses a health application in their mobile phones or tablets. With an increasing demand for digital solutions, the healthcare market is changing in Spain.
The study included 957 participants, 40% use intelligent scales and 21% has had access to their electronic health record during the last year. Only 6% has used some kind of artificial intelligence (AI) service but, 63% of the participants are willing to use AI in the future. The most popular digital services are home-based services like blood tests, digital healthcare professionals, and digital nurses that monitor health status.
Remote healthcare consulting is also well received with 73% in favour of remote consultation since it adapts to their lifestyle, and 56% of the participants believing that it also helps reducing patient costs. Highly successful remote consulting services like the Swedish application Kry, marketed as VIDA in Spain, are entering the Spanish market. Kry is a video-based healthcare provider that allows patients to have a video calls with a doctor. In Sweden, this type of applications are changing the way healthcare is provided, and now the question is how they will affect the Spanish healthcare system.
Spanish public institutions like TIC Salut Social Foundation (TICSS), an organisation that operates in the region of Catalonia, encourage the use of digital health. Approved in 2015, the Pla de Mobilitatmhealth. cat includes AppSalut marketplace which is managed by TICSS. The AppSalut marketplace includes a catalogue of health and social care applications, all these applications have been reviewed and accredited by TICSS in order to ensure the reliability of the products. TICSS recently published the results of their pilot project on the prescription of health applications in primary care. The conclusion was that although there are still some aspects that need improvement, like patient commitment or correct use of the app, face-to-face support showed to be essential for a successful transition to a more digital healthcare model.
As TICSS representative mentioned, digital health is “Easy to get, easy to use and insanely cheap”. With a market thirsty for innovation, which one will be the next big app?
Sources:
Karl-Johan Byttner (218) How a 29-year old former hypochondriac built Sweden’s most successful medtech startup. Business Insider. Available online (link)
Lopez Segui et al. (2018) The Prescription of Mobile Apps by Primary Care Teams: A Pilot Project in Catalonia. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. Available online (link)