The future of care | PwC

Healthcare faces multiple challenges that will only intensify in the years ahead. The global population is ageing and growing; by 2035, it could rise to nearly 9 billion people. The incidences of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and dementia are also growing, with global treatment costs for these conditions slated to reach US$47 trillion by 2030. Backlogs in state-funded health services are delaying routine treatments, and given the global shortage of healthcare workers, it is unlikely that this problem will resolve itself soon. Though newer medications, such as GLP-1 drugs, offer hope in treating a range of medical conditions, the cost is currently too high for the general population; a course of such obesity drugs in the US would set the average patient back US$500 a month. And inequalities in income and education further aggravate health inequalities. All the while, consumers and patients who have come to expect convenience and high levels of service in their retail experiences are now raising their expectations for their own healthcare. 

But today’s challenges also represent tomorrow’s opportunities. Imagine a future in which personalised treatments are available to all; where drug discovery, enabled by AI, is faster, more effective and less costly than it is today; where technology platforms and health services collaborate to make care and procedures more digitally enabled, and hence more accessible for all; where smart personal consumer electronic devices are able to detect the early warning signs of an expanding range of conditions; where wearable technology and innovations in medical devices allow for real-time AI-powered diagnosis.

Along with every other aspect of the industrial ecosystem, healthcare is being reconfigured under the pressure of key megatrends: climate change, technological disruption, demographic shifts, a fracturing world and social instability. These megatrends are long term in nature, but their impact is being felt today. That means business leaders must tackle a combination of ever-changing short-term crises and, at the same time, consider how their organisations can adapt to the impact of the megatrends in order to evolve and thrive. 

The shifts brought about by the megatrends are manifesting themselves in six basic areas of human activity: how we build, make, move and power, and how we feed and care for ourselves. In healthcare, as in each domain, a new ecosystem is emerging. Tomorrow’s care ecosystem will look much different from today’s healthcare industry, as it evolves to bring together traditional and non-traditional players cooperating and innovating as they envisage, enable and deliver care interventions. 

A massive shift in value—or as we term it, value in motion—will be created in this care ecosystem. Entirely new value pools will emerge, with the patient at the centre. Others that are small today could grow large, while some will disappear altogether. Incumbents and start-ups, large and small organisations, public and private companies, and regulators will join the ecosystem from a wide array of legacy sectors spanning both the ‘real’ and the financial economy. The health ecosystem will reconfigure into a larger and more diverse network, capable of meeting rising demand and coping with increased cost pressure and rising consumer expectations. 

Although industry players have already started to work in this direction, there is much more to be done. Leaders can confront the challenges they face and take advantage of the many opportunities that present themselves by transitioning from keeping a narrow focus on their direct legacy value chain to embracing the broader ecosystem.