As COVID-19 sparked a huge uptake of virtual care, what would have taken years of digital transformation happened in just a few short months. But even before the pandemic, rising consumer expectations and increased competition in healthcare were forcing healthcare organizations (HCOs) to shift from a reactive model to a proactive and personalized one.

To enable this model, HCOs have been investing in digital health experiences that virtualize engagement and reach beyond the exam room. These experiences are powered by self-triage tools, virtual care visits, and remote monitoring technologies that patients use on an ongoing, sometimes continuous, basis. The pandemic accelerated the value of digital health experiences as the industry saw massive growth in virtual care usage; however, at the same time, a large percentage of the population are delaying in-person care due to concerns about cost and safety. The ripple effects from this are palpable, with the financial implications of delayed care looming large for all parties — including consumers, providers, and health insurers.

To help HCO clients identify and prioritize use cases for digital health experiences, we have created a collection of Forrester’s digital health research.

The Case For Digital Health Experiences

Digital health experiences that are “connected” can augment virtual care visits, amplifying the effectiveness of the visit through the availability of data. Providers and health insurers can more closely observe those consumers who leverage remote monitoring, providing the benefits of early intervention and lower medical spend.

Tools And Technologies For Digital Health Experiences

The increased availability and use of monitoring devices — such as virtual care, virtual mental healthcare, self-triage, remote patient monitoring sensors, remote diagnostics, digital therapeutics, wearables, smart pills, and extended reality (XR) — are game changers for both virtual care and the ongoing monitoring of patients with chronic conditions. The data that these devices collect improves the effectiveness of virtual care and allows HCOs to better personalize customer experiences, leading to both changed behavior and higher customer retention.

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