Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Rethink: Healthcare on the 'brink of a major redesign'

Rethink: Healthcare on the 'brink of a major redesign'

The use of technology in healthcare accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and global healthcare company Philips says this is just the beginning.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Healthcare is on the brink of a major redesign that will give you access to more personalised, precise and effective care.

For years now, growing ageing populations and the increase in chronic illness have created a pressing need to rethink the delivery of healthcare. While new digital technologies have offered answers to reduce the growing pressure and help transform health systems, widespread adoption of these technologies has often been slow.

The pandemic, however, has shown that adoption can move much faster. As lockdown restrictions were introduced, chances are you started consulting your general practitioner or medical specialist via messaging app or video call – services falling under what is referred to as virtual care.

Prior to COVID-19, people said it would take a decade before such services were widely accepted. The pandemic seemingly changed that overnight, highlighting how quickly we can embrace new ways of accessing care and extract greater value from existing technologies.

As healthcare providers and governments look to fundamentally redesign healthcare – with an urgency intensified by the pandemic – looking at the potential of other digital technologies offers a glimpse into the rapidly emerging future of care.

Internet of Things: Connecting patients for better care


Internet of Things (IoT) devices that connect to and exchange data with other devices via the internet, has the potential to herald in a whole new dimension of care delivery and transform the way you manage your health and wellness – just as the internet has already transformed so many other parts of our lives.

In the near future, networks of connected devices such as fitness trackers, wearable sensors and other monitoring devices will seamlessly connect to each other, collect and interpret data. Many people are of course already tracking some aspects of their personal health information, such as their heart rates and daily activity, but receive limited actionable insights.

As devices become more interconnected and the insights richer, you will have access to information that empowers you to better manage your health and well-being.

At the same time, if you have a chronic condition you will increasingly be able to connect to monitoring devices that help you manage your condition in your daily environment. You will have access to personalised feedback and coaching and remain in close contact with professional caregivers.

Hospitals equipped with such connected technology will increasingly monitor critically ill patients remotely, in real time, to spot potential problems early and act on them faster. Such examples point to a future with an expanding role for care beyond hospital walls.

At Philips, our vision is that healthcare solutions will increasingly become interconnected to offer real-time decision support and access to more personalised, precise and effective care. Data captured by IoT devices will play a critical role.

As the number and usage of IoT devices continues to grow, so does the amount of data generated by these devices. This provides the fuel for artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics to generate relevant and actionable insights.

Artificial intelligence: Enabling personalised and pro-active care


The amount of clinical data being captured by today’s health technology is already far too great for medical teams to evaluate. In addition, healthcare providers are often unable to leverage it in a meaningful way, as it is cluttered, fragmented and unstructured.

AI – another technology that is already at our fingertips and developing rapidly − can help. An AI engine can interpret data billions of times faster than the human brain. And it can identify subtle events, such as a deteriorating patient.

In the near future, AI will be increasingly used to analyse real-time data from patient monitors to detect deteriorations in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, helping to spot potential problems early and act immediately.

In stroke patients, it can already automatically detect minute clots in brain CT scans. It’s also already helping to increase workflow efficiency and enhance diagnostic confidence in, for example, radiology departments − pre-reading and prioritising scans to alert radiologists to patients that need immediate attention.

AI will be key to making treatment more precise and personalised, especially for cancer. Since cancer results from mutations in our cells’ DNA, a cancer patient and their tumor both have a unique genetic code.

Using AI to trawl through the genetic profiles of millions of cancer patients will be critical to deciding on the most effective therapies and clinical trials.

These developments show how digital technologies will increasingly play a critical role in assisting care teams to deliver the best care possible.

Cloud-enabled care every step of the way


We are at the beginning of a healthcare transformation that will see AI, the Internet of Things, virtual care and other digital technologies coming together to create highly personalised proactive care that follows us through every stage of life.

This will cover the end-to-end continuum of care - from healthy living and disease prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and care in the home.

In contrast to the one-size-fits-all solutions of yesterday, healthy lifestyle support will be personalised, prevention targeted, diagnosis more precise, treatment personalised and predictive, and home care proactive.

Within these wider, more holistic ecosystems, both you and your care providers will have access to all the necessary past, present, and predictive data needed for informed decision-making, plus the tools to implement timely and effective treatment.

Which is the reason why healthcare is set to become more personalised, precise and effective, because you will receive the care you need, when and where you need it.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
×