Pandemic as catalyst for healthcare transformation

Equal access to healthcare

The outbreak of the pandemic and the efforts made around the world to deal with its consequences have clearly demonstrated the disproportion in access to healthcare. According to the authors of the report "2022 Global Health Care Outlook. Are we finally seeing the long-promised transformation? ”Prepared by the consulting company Deloitte, disproportions are nothing new, but COVID-19 has clearly influenced the situation of social groups that commonly experienced barriers to effective care. At that time, structural flaws in health care systems and inequalities in the so-called social determinants of the level of health care.

While the various factors contributing to health inequalities in a given country or region vary, many of them are common - such as cultural traditions, health regulations and policies, and the scale of patient confidence. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the development of equality initiatives by making health a priority. According to Deloitte experts, however, not only health systems themselves, but also social, economic and environmental factors influence the achievement of such a state of well-being, including mental, physical, social and spiritual health.

Mental health issues of increasing importance

For decades, in many regions of the world, mental health has been underestimated, often considered unnecessary, and psychiatric care neglected and underfunded. Meanwhile, the pandemic has shown that the economic effects of spreading mental illness and behavioral disorders and their impact on the entire global economy are significant and complex. According to experts, between a quarter and a half of the world's population experience mental health issues at some point in their lives. It is estimated that by 2030 the global cost of fighting mental illness will be over $ 6 trillion annually.

- The topic of mental health has appeared in the political and social agendas of many countries, including Poland. Including the health care system development strategy for 2021-2030 envisages a significant increase in expenditure on psychiatric care. It can be said that it has finally been noticed that, in addition to the coronavirus, societies are also experiencing a pandemic of deteriorating mental condition. Prolonged lockdowns, experiencing the loss of loved ones, the growing level of stress caused by a difficult financial situation - all this has highlighted the current widespread lack of access to fast, affordable and quality-related mental health services and a significant increase in consumer spending on treatment outside the health care system - says Krzysztof Wilk, partner, leader of the Life Sciences & Health Care Poland practice at Deloitte

According to Deloitte experts, greater effectiveness of actions taken in this area of ​​health care can be ensured by: growing social awareness of this type of risk, greater interest from lawmakers and stronger emphasis on the involvement of decision makers. Psychological care service providers, and often also technology companies, should work in this area with insurers and academic institutions to develop digital solutions that will allow us to successfully combat various mental disorders.

- Digitization has tremendous potential to transform global mental and behavioral health systems to become more commonplace, affordable, scalable and situational. The pandemic has accelerated the emergence and diffusion of applications from this area. The issue that requires a solution is the selection of an appropriate and proven tool that will be based on scientific foundations and effectively adapt to the specific needs of consumers - says Paweł Kuśmierowski, partner associate, Life Sciences & Health Care Poland at Deloitte.

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