One of the good things that came out of the pandemic

This is the kind of slightly provocative (and thus catchy !) titles which has appeared more and more often in the media and on the internet in the last weeks and months. In most cases it was a celebration of human resilience in the face of adversity. Also the sign that the worst was behind us since we could allow ourselves to look for the silver lining.

In my case and after reading the McKinsey report which I described in my previous post, this epiphany was a confirmation of something I had suspected for a few months. In a nutshell, this crisis did not indeed create remote health technologies, but it greatly enhanced the confidence that patients and health professionals got in those technologies. Because these technologies turned out to be the only way to keep life (and health) as normal as possible, because they were the last resort, they were fully embraced, without reluctance, and had the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

To give you an example, the McKinsey report reveals that the oncological clinical trials investigators’ share of virtual interventions went from 7% pre-Covid to 57% during the Covid crisis. More importantly, these investigators expect to maintain a 23% share after the crisis. In other words, clinical trial investigators predict that a threefold increase in remote patient interactions will persist after the pandemic.

The same report states that up to 98 percent of patients reported satisfaction with telemedicine and mentions another survey, where 72 percent of physicians reported similar or better experiences with remote engagement compared with in-person visits.

This does not mean the end of physical interaction between patients and health professionals. It is just an additional way of meeting patients where they are and offer them optimal care.