The hospitals are still stuck in the 20th century which was clearly shown during the pandemic. They were not ready at all to cope with the demand and were unprepared even in the developed world. Though digitalization has evolved in every other sector, digital health is not embraced fully from top to bottom in the institutional healthcare sector. It's time to rethink and redesign the hospital sector matching the needs of the 21st century. By leveraging digital technologies and embracing patient designs, a patient centric approach will make hospitals more suitable for the future needs of mankind.

Imagine a future where your own couch in your living room can be a diagnostic lab or an examination room or even a wellness hub! All your health data will be shared and visualized by your General Practitioner via remote health monitoring devices and the doctor or the caretaker appears on the screen of your own tab via a live video consultation telemedicine session. A doctor visit to a hospital will only be when it is absolutely needed. Mostly the hospitals will be catering Acute Emergencies, intensive care facilities, radiology and operating theaters for minor/ major surgeries.

There may be centralized digital data centers which analyze the patient’s own health data and facilitate digital support systems for doctors to provide more accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment plans including continuous health monitoring. Digital health with Artificial intelligent technologies may provide seamless processes to enhance patient experience to overcome the lacking physical interactions. Robotic involvements and process automations can help the care givers in the hospitals to provide more time for essential patient care rather than spending time for documentation and logistic issues.

The future hospital designs may be changed according to the patient's needs and expectations. The hospital's rooms will be more visually appealing and surrounded with screens. The augmented reality technology will be used to make the environment and experience more friendly during the healing journey.

Though the technology may overcome most aspects of the future hospital care, the acute and complex patients will still rely on experienced human hands.

Dr. Harsha Jayakody
Healthcare Entrepreneur
MBBS (Sri Lanka) MBA in Health Admin (Malaysia) MSc in Biomedical Informatics (Sri Lanka)
MD in Health Informatics (Sri Lanka)