The Future of Healthcare is Hybrid Healthcare
‘Hybrid Healthcare’ is the term coined by Sophie Smith, founder of women’s hybrid health platform Nabta Health, to define a new model of healthcare where traditional care systems are integrated with digital health solutions to revolutionise the future of global healthcare.
In “Hybrid Healthcare”, the book of the same name recently published by Springer Nature, authors Smith and Dr Mussaad Al-Razouki discuss how established clinical techniques, combined with new-age digital systems, will democratise healthcare, empowering patients and providing a more efficient, accessible and holistic healthcare experience.
“The intersection of the traditional healthcare system with new digital technologies will enable the rise of a robust hybrid healthcare ecosystem; one that encourages accountability, efficiency and cost-effectiveness through its three pillars of patient centricity, augmented intelligence, and decentralisation.”
Digital and traditional healthcare professionals must adopt a hybrid approach
Successful hybrid care models recognise that face-to-face, in-person healthcare isn’t going anywhere. The disruption of physician-led traditional care delivery mechanisms can be a win-win for patient and system.
The authors argue that the digital health entrepreneurs willing to work alongside traditional clinical pathways stand the best chance of successfully addressing the many healthcare challenges of the 21st century.
Hybrid healthcare builds on pandemic sector shake-up
The concept of hybrid healthcare may seem familiar, even obvious now, as we emerge from several years of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
In reality, the concept envisioned by Nabta Health in 2018 was accelerated due to necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic. The healthcare system was forced to adapt at speed, adopting telehealth and remote care models to support patients during lengthy lockdowns.
And with shifts in patient expectations, healthcare providers are emerging into a post-pandemic world where they are forced to offer a more patient-centric, patient-led care service. Blended in-person and virtual care.
The pandemic has fast-forwarded disruption across the global healthcare sector. The future of healthcare is hybrid healthcare.
Embracing the next generation model of hybrid healthcare
The book “Hybrid Healthcare” is a deep dive into the potential of this exciting and rapidly growing sector. It looks at the role for virtual and electronic tools, including digital diagnostics, electronic medical records, and online health marketplaces. It discusses the possibilities for artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotic surgery, and cloud biology. And it introduces existing examples of successful hybrid healthcare solutions.
As Smith says, “Hybrid healthcare has the ability to take on the challenges of a rapidly growing, increasingly unhealthy global population by exponentially increasing its base and pace of delivery using the power of digital technologies, data collection, and analytics.
“We must work together, digital and traditional, if we are to survive.”
