Predicting the Next 10 Years of Patient Engagement

Description

In the summer of 2015, I joined Chilmark Research as an analyst looking at the burgeoning landscape of patient engagement technology. More than a decade later, many things have indeed changed for the better: Patient data is far more accessible, and patients and their caregivers can interact with healthcare stakeholders digitally.

At the same time, I can’t help but look back at what we all called the patient engagement market in 2015 and think it fell far short of our expectations for what it would accomplish. I realized this happened because, somewhere along the line, we misrepresented patient engagement. At its core, it’s a guiding principle for how individuals who need care should interact with those who provide care. Patient engagement is not, and should not be, thought of as a broad technology market.

This resource has a simple, straightforward enough goal: Explain why the patient engagement future we all envisioned in 2015 hasn’t come to fruition by the middle of 2026 and dissect the lessons we can try to learn from it all.

It’s a scary proposition. Generative AI, One Big Beautiful Bill, nurse and physician shortages, the backlash against science, private equity takeovers, and a host of other factors will all make healthcare in the United States dramatically different 10 years from now in ways that are difficult to imagine. Even so, I firmly believe it’s important to keep our eyes on the proverbial prize of better understanding how the industry can and should engage with patients, what role technology should play, and what work needs to be done to achieve the future we want and need.