2022 digital healthcare trends

Digital transformation of the Russian healthcare industry will continue in 2022. What solutions will be particularly sought after?

The pandemic significantly expedited digitalization of healthcare and this trend will continue in 2022. There are great expectations concerning the development of telemedicine. Remote consultations by psychologists and nutritionists are steadily on the rise. It may be expected that there will be a boost for other medical specializations as well.

Anticipated improvements in state regulation of the diagnosis process are warming up the market of telemedicine services. Currently, remote diagnosis is prohibited by law.

Healthcare providers will continue to use AI and medical decision support systems — and not only to diagnose lung damage by COVID-19. New solutions will be used more widely to detect other disorders as well.

Another trend for the next year is more balanced digitalization of public and private healthcare. Digital profile of public healthcare has been in the pipeline for more than a decade, with significant allocations from the federal budget. In private healthcare, extensive implementation of hospital information systems and integration with the Integrated Public Healthcare Data System has only started this year. Owners of private clinics are using their own money to fund their digital transformation, which explains the slow rate. However, since several regulations took effect (including on electronic document management by healthcare providers and the government resolution on healthcare licensing), they will have to finish the process faster. It is expected that in 2022, the government will move away from regulatory measures to extensive oversight and penalties for violators.

New healthcare digitalization tasks will arise for regional healthcare facilities, including implementation of vertically integrated medical information systems based on roadmaps. In addition to subsystems for oncology, cardiology, obstetrics and neonatology, an occupational pathology subsystem will be launched.

With new licensing requirements in place, there will be higher demand for automating private healthcare. As more knowledgeable managers understand the true benefits of digitalization, the quality of their requests will improve. A hospital information system is a natural and important tool for healthcare business management. Integration with the Integrated Public Healthcare Data System is a standard requirement for obtaining and maintaining a medical license. It is also a guarantee of quality medical help.

We are taking great effort to communicate this to clinic managers through our educational, consulting and applied projects.

Two approaches to the digitalization of healthcare will continue to develop: one is based on an integrated information system and another on integration platforms that can consolidate and synchronize different information systems and IT products. This matter still requires standardization and regulation.

There are some more expectations for the upcoming year. New regulations will be adopted to protect personal data and medical records used for research and commercial purposes. Also, Big Data operators for pharmaceutical companies and research centers will be launched.

In a nutshell, The digital healthcare market will continue to evolve fast in 2022 based on set goals and objectives which will be primarily focused on building and improving an integrated digital profile, extensive inclusion of private healthcare facilities and developing new technologies.