Digitization in the Latin American health sector has advanced rapidly over the last two years, the challenges brought by the pandemic have driven the integration of technology in the medical sector.
Japanese technology consulting company NTT DATA and MIT Technology Review conducted the study. The transformation in the health sector in Latin America: the digitization of the patient, the change in health services and the opening of the ecosystem, whose purpose is to find out how healthcare organizations have adapted to the current situation and how they are developing their digitization processes.
The study had as participants 70 companies established in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru, in addition to 30 interviews about digitization processes.
One of the main findings of the study is that the pandemic has reduced the digital divide between the different consumer profiles. In this sense, 60% of the companies consulted in the study stated that more than half of their clients use digital media, a figure that is expected to grow to 80% in the next two years.
Likewise, the pandemic has promoted epidemiological surveillance in health companies; at least 36% of the companies participating in the study have such a surveillance system.
On the other hand, data analytics has increased its use among Latin American organizations, in countries such as Brazil and Mexico about 83% of organizations use data to create strategies.
Regarding the use of mobile applications, the implementation of tools such as telemedicine and chatbot doctors, companies have already launched strategies in this area. 95% of the people surveyed highlighted the importance of telemedicine in digital transformation processes.
As the authors of the study explain, despite the promising progress in the digitalization journey in the health sector, companies have to solve new challenges to find the balance between the human and digitalization.
You can consult the full report for free at the following link: https://ntt.healthcare-forwardhealth.com/home-es