EY launches new digital health practice
Accountancy practice, EY, has created a new healthcare consultancy. By incorporating "Health 2.0", the practice will use digital health solutions to solve complex medical issues. The practice will also develop digital strategies related to healthcare data.
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The advisory arm of EY has reinvented its healthcare practice under the banner of Healthcare 2.0. The new practice will be an amalgamation of its healthcare teams across its geographies, as well as connecting technology, telecommunications and consumers product expertise. The aim of the new practice is to provide healthcare solutions that tackle the ever increasing demand and cost of such care, with digital solutions slated as the solution to those issues.

As a result of a rapidly aging population and healthcare services becoming more complex and expensive, combined with the development of new technologies, a different approach to healthcare may be on the horizon. According to EY, the future healthcare system “Health 2.0” – is about to arise. This system will feature a more patient-centred approach, is out-come driven and focused on prevention, and takes a cross sector approach.

To take part in the development and rise of a different form of delivering healthcare services, EY has created a new healthcare consultancy within its wider advisory practice. The new practice will involve the advisory consolidate of its already existent health care teams from across its geographies, as well as knit together multiple sectors, including technology, telecommunications, consumer products.

Guiding healthcare 2.0

The new EY healthcare practice is set to support companies and healthcare providers along three core services lines related primarily to delivering digital solutions to healthcare related issues:

Operating efficiently: the new practice seeks to provide cost and workforce optimisation to help streamline IT operations. The practice will also develop digital strategies related to Big Data and create data governance systems that apply to sensitive healthcare data.

Digital: the practice will consider the digital solutions and business models arising through which healthcare can be provided. This includes: making sense of its data; data capture and integration; IT systems and architecture transformations; cloud computing; and cyber security.

Wellness: the practice will develop, among others, solutions that empower providers and patients to focus on prevention and manage diseases in real time to help ensure more long-term wellness in patients.

The new practice will be led by Jacques Mulder, who will move from the position of Global Industry & Market Strategy Leader at EY to take on the role, and have a team of more than 4,000 employees. Included in the team are health department chief executives, hospital administrators, clinicians, accountants and policy advisors – whose new role it will be to provide best practice and develop solutions across a range of markets to support EY clients.

“Health systems and players are under increasing pressures to keep costs down and adopt new technologies — driving them to seek more viable approaches, including incentives that emphasise value. Compared to other industries, health care has been slow to embrace the digital age. […] Collaborative approaches will be needed to create sustainable health care systems that deliver high-quality care while being efficient and cost-effective,” explains Mulder. “EY’s new approach to health care consultancy demonstrates that the industry requires a fundamentally different approach for creating new opportunities for cross-sector partnering. It’s time to re-imagine health.”