Patient pathways promise improved treatments and outcomes, yet they often lead to a maze of access, equity and service issues where great intentions hit dead ends.
Wreathed in innovation, lived experience and market intelligence, these pathways can be transformative across conditions and patient groups, but for too many people they appear like decorations for a feast to which they are not invited.
Digital advances, both in technology and its delivery, have been remarkable in recent years but, with ten million people in the UK lacking foundation-level tech skills, there is growing concern that the groups often most in need of healthcare, such as the elderly and socially disadvantaged, remain on the outside.
A degree of soul-searching is needed and Rachel Harris, Brand and Strategy Director at leading healthcare communications agency Page and Page, observes: “People have a right to live their healthi-est possible lives and, while the demands of ageing populations and strained healthcare systems present challenges, that is what we should be aiming for.
“We have failed or, at least, we are failing in this vital responsibility. Advances in digital technology should be helping us but we are lagging behind other industries in deploying digital. We are six or seven years behind and that is having a huge impact on the efficiencies and effectiveness of patient pathways.”
The ABPI Patient Advisory Council, drawn from charity CEOs, published a report earlier this year highlighting the corrosive damage on the uptake of innovative medicines caused by lack of access and equity along pathways.
It stated: “We have long been aware of the human cost of NHS decisions and processes that fail to ensure equitable access and timely uptake of proven innovative treatments. This is a problem that compounds already deep-seated health inequalities across the UK.”
Building digital potential
These multi-faceted issues are not confined to the UK. Countries across Europe and the world are try-ing to wrangle the tantalising potential of genetic and digital advances into a dynamic service design that encourages innovation R&D and eliminates access and equity choke points.
A perfect system is unlikely to exist but European Commission research showcases the lucrative opportunities to energise performance and outcomes across a suite of touch points, including home monitoring, medical imaging and e-prescriptions, where annual savings of €2-3bn annual savings from cross border prescriptions alone are predicted.
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