October 10, 2024

Harmony Thrive

Superior Health, Meaningful Life

Five future trends and insights that are shaping UAE health care ecosystem

Five future trends and insights that are shaping UAE health care ecosystem

In recent years, awareness of setting policies and targets to reach Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ESGs has increased significantly, and health care has not been immune. The outlook in this trend is primarily concerned with environmental sustainability, the health care workforce and the resilience and self-sufficiency of health care systems. This includes equitable access to health care, the economic sustainability of providers, and other players in the sector. It also includes expanding the concept of sustainability to include not just supply chain effects, but workforce well-being and the notion of creating shared value as a corporate responsibility for all players within an organization’s ecosystem. In the future, health care systems will need to be prepared for and respond to the changing natural environment. The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic raised awareness of the need to invest in sustainable and resilient health systems, especially in public health, to improve readiness for the next crisis.

The scale of the health sector means that health systems have a significant environmental impact. Globally, health care contributes around 5% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, sustainability is an important target in a rapidly changing health care environment. There is a strong connection between achieving a sustainable workforce and strengthening health care systems. Achieving a sustainable health care workforce requires increasing labor participation rates, focusing on resource utilization and developing strong future pipelines of workers equipped to work in the digital age. The pandemic exposed the many vulnerabilities in global supply chains and prompted the sourcing of more stable options to better address supply constraints and variable demand. The supply chain is a prime area for AI because of the sheer volume of products, invoices and contracts. Intelligent supply chains will streamline getting the products to consumers to help achieve just-in-time delivery and minimize waste. Finally, this outlook spotlights two key areas of environment-friendly hospitals and digitizing clinical trials through AI.

Key trends

  • Climate-smart health responding to SDGs and ESG imperatives and retaining trust.
  • Building workforce sustainability.
  • Increasingly agile and resilient supply chains through transformative technologies.

Increasing momentum for sustainable health care

Increasing awareness has shifted public attention toward sustainability and related environmental, social and economic matters. As the momentum around sustainability has increased, its meaning has evolved to include practices that support ecological, human and economic health for thriving, healthy and diverse communities. In health care, this extends to such things as the well-being of patients, health care employees and the community.

In the future, health care systems will need to be prepared for, and respond to the changing natural environment. This calls for resilient services that are capable of dealing with the health impacts and operational consequences of environmental changes.

An environmentally sustainable health system improves, maintains or restores health, while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and leveraging opportunities to restore and improve it, to the benefit of the health and well-being of current and future generations. The scale of the sector means that the environmental footprint of health care systems is significant, using substantial quantities of resources and producing considerable waste.

Sustainability and transformative technology can play a major role in enhancing the health system’s economic, environmental and operating performance. The adoption of sustainable practices has been found to be successful in reducing costs across the value chain of health providers. In the case of workforce, challenge is to refine productivity, reimagine clinical services and harness the power of disruptive technologies and AI. Digitally-enabled supply chains and sustainable procurement practices underpin the shift in health care to decentralized and data-driven health care models. In particular, using predictive analytics to streamline getting the products to consumers and to help achieve just-in-time delivery and minimize waste. To ensure effective response, agility and resilience, health systems and organizations must look to the future of supply chain innovation.

What’s next?

To enable sustainability and transformative technologies, the UAE should consider:

  • Creating a favorable policy environment that leverages incentives for ESG for a sustainable health system.
  • Building a sustainable workforce through encouraging local citizens to acquire health industry skills and competencies and to support the development of new health workforce groups including data analysts, data scientists and epidemiologists.
  • Building system resilience to predict and respond to emerging epidemics.

Conclusion

The future of health care is rapidly evolving with technological advancements shaping a digital landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this transformation, and the shift towards participatory, connected, and technology-driven health systems is irreversible. Patients will benefit from novel therapies, greater control and input into their care. The health care workforce will rely on new skills and care models, while technology alleviates burdens and optimizes resources. These trends pave the way for reimagining health care, aligning with UAE’s vision of a digitally advanced knowledge economy. By investing in enabling infrastructure and partnering with international institutions, a vibrant health economy can be fostered. Change is inevitable. 

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