Hyderabad: There is no conversation these days that revolves around technology that does not include artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse. Ultimately merging into one immersive experience, according to technology experts, these technologies have much to offer, including reducing the cost of care. These were the words with which an exciting and groundbreaking conversation developed in the 20th edition of BioAsia in the ‘life science capital of India’.
Agam UpadhyaySenior Vice President, CTO, GSK, USA and Philip Houben, Head, GTM and Digital Transformation, IMETA, Boehringer Ingelheim, UAE, participated in a panel discussion on ‘Healthcare Reimagined: Telemedicine, Wearables and Healthcare in the Metaverse’. The session was moderated by ram deshpandePartner, Digital Transformation, EY, discussion focused on changes in patient journeys and healthcare experiences due to digital technology, the next generation of remote healthcare models i.e. home healthcare , virtual clinics (anywhere, anytime healthcare) and the metaverse: new possibilities and realities.
Noting that whether it’s any new technology or anything new coming in, there’s a lot of hype and it becomes a buzzword, Upadhyay said: “I think the metaverse is where it’s still in the hype cycle. and becoming reality.”
Updhayay explained that the metaverse is the next iteration of the internet and that it is a driving force behind creating an immersive environment, and that all organizations are working to create a healthcare ecosystem where medicines can be brought to market faster.
“We’ve all seen what happened with the pandemic, and as far as the need goes, we just can’t wait for 10 years, and they can’t wait for the billions of dollars invested in getting the medicines to our patients.” added Upadhyay. , while he emphasizes that impacting people’s lives in terms of coping with the disease cannot happen without the support of technology.
Bringing the emotional dimension into the conversation and calling it a game changer, Houben said: “The metaverse is virtual reality that is enabling, and we need to experience it not with the brain but with the heart,” he added, “Where I see a big difference in the way that we can interact with them by taking them through that immersive experience. And as I can tell you, we are experimenting with this. And we see significant benefits in incorporating those emotional dimensions into the way that we interact with patients.”
The focus of the conversation changed when Upadhayay insisted on the need to improve the overall immersive experience when onboarding a new employee or a new operator for pharmaceutical companies. He added: “Now think about a supply chain or manufacturing, and when you hire a new operator, how can you create a better experience for that? That operator has to be trained on expensive machines in a plant, especially if he’s thinking about the pharmaceutical industry, where they’re expensive, you know, and so on. It’s not that easy.”
Updhayay went on to say that according to the available studies, there is a huge difference during compliance training and according to him, these are very complex processes. According to studies, training retention is higher when done immersively rather than traditionally. In other words, the retention is lengthened if the training takes place in the metaverse.
The Metaverse can play a crucial role in debunking the myths surrounding disease progression and clinical drug trials. Houben clarified that patients do not adhere to treatment due to lack of awareness of disease progression among themselves or the close groups in which they are integrated.
“What I also believe in, beyond the technicality of the pill, is also considering the patient experience. Until now, we have tried to explain it with charts and patient testimonials,” she said, adding that the metadata allows for experiments and better explains to doctors and other caregivers how disease progression will affect my daily life. Patients would also feel more comfortable if they were better informed about what happens in clinical trials.
Speaking about cybersecurity concerns and the need for data governance to ethically regulate cyberspace on top of existing legislation and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Houben raised an important question about what constitutes personal data. He further explained, saying that if he joins the metaverse, every week is spent transforming into data. Your reaction is transforming the data, and the analysis of those reactions would also become data.
“What will be left is the personal data that is developed under those GDPR legislations and actions? I think it will also greatly impact the consent that we will have to ask the user for. Since clarity will be needed on what basis the data is collected in that way. So I think we need to be extremely cautious in the way data is stored and analysed,” Ruben added.
The discussion also touched on various aspects of mental health, the business value that the metaverse brings, the role the metaverse will play in the lives of doctors, the care delivery process, and many more. Experts believe that the metaverse is an evolving animal with new technological innovations supporting it through which new approaches to deliver high-quality healthcare treatment and services can be investigated.
