They say that necessity is the mother of invention and there has certainly never been a more pressing need for accessible healthcare in the UK. The ‘maximum’ waiting time for non-urgent treatment in the NHS is meant to be 18 weeks but, in reality, over half of the 7 million people who need it each year are suffering beyond this point. As bottlenecks go, this has become pretty extreme and means a significant proportion of the population is living in chronic pain. Meanwhile a third of GP appointments are for musculoskeletal issues like back ache and yet, with affordable technology available right now, 80% of them could completely bypass being seen in person.
The NHS has outlined plans to launch a virtual hospital in 2027, connecting patients with AI-powered triage and remote access to treatment from specialists. Is this a bold move or painfully slow adoption of technology that already exists?
Covid Catalyst
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telemedicine globally, making virtual care a mainstream option for millions. Since then, advances in AI and computer vision have taken this to another level. For example, stable skeleton tracking, using over 100 data points on the body, even with various lighting, clothing and backgrounds can provide consistent feedback on a person’s range-of-motion in diverse locations. Occlusion Handling manages situations where a user’s view is obstructed by another object or person (useful in residential care situations) and Edge Computing processes data exactly where it is generated in real-time, rather than sending it to the cloud.
Enthusiastically fuelled by venture capital, remote services have sprung up across the world offering personalised and effective treatment plans for diabetes, endocrinology (hormones) and cardiology as well as physiotherapy. They enable patients to access specialist care without the need for travel and can handle everything end-to-end from initial clinical intervention through to discharge. Pilots and clinical trials – including those we have been directly involved in – have shown great improvements in patient adherence and recovery (more on that later). So why are opportunities to take advantage of these technologies so few and far between?
From my perspective there has been a reluctance from medical professionals and the general public to accept that remote care can be as good as – even better in some instances – than face-to-face. Thankfully this tide is turning and you only have to look at job descriptions for clinicians advertised to see words like remote, virtual and online beginning to feature more prominently. Critical to this is the understanding that AI enhances, rather than replaces, the vital human element of effective healthcare. Indeed, for remote health to work it has to be a collaborative ‘human-in-the-loop’ approach where clinicians actively participate in AI evaluation and decision-making, to enhance accuracy and protect patients.
Remote V ‘Hands-On’
Anyone who has had physiotherapy will know how easy it is to forgo their daily exercise routine. Not because they don’t care but because… well, life gets in the way when we’re bombarded with to-do lists, meetings, chores – and physio slips to the bottom. When presented with a remote physio alternative, patients of all ages engage really well because – once the initial assessment has been carried out – what they require and therefore respond well to is encouragement with their rehab at home. Real-time prompts act like a therapist is in the room with you and exercise adherence of >75% being recorded is in complete contrast to around 30% when left to you own devices.
At a basic level this avoid the visits to hospital which can be associated with long waits and negotiating public transport or worse… hospital car parking. But, with an alternative that’s so simple it works on any device with a camera, more turn up to appointments and more do their rehab exercises. Significantly improved adherence with the exercises are the building blocks to faster recovery and the data shows not just if they logged in but whether patients have actually completed activities as prescribed. This visibility enables clinicians to devote attention to those who need it most and, along with increased patient accountability, comes quicker recovery.
So another big advantage over traditional therapy are real-time adjustments. There’s an Ayurvedic golden rule “vikāra anurūpa cikitsā” which means treatment must adapt to changing conditions. Recovery is dynamic where some days you’re stronger but energy fluctuates and pain flares up unexpectedly.
Traditional care plans are static with no real adjustment until your next appointment which may be weeks away. Compare that to a system which identifies mistakes and provides corrective audio and visual guidance within milliseconds – like a live physical therapist would do. It tracks movement quality, pace, form, even pain signals and it adapts your plan accordingly. It slows you down when needed, nudges you forward when you’re ready and it flags to your clinician if something’s off.
Early Adopters
With the benefits of instant access, faster recovery and most cases requiring only half the appointments that they would otherwise need, it’s no wonder that remote services have caught the eye of private medical insurance. They – along with human resources, occupational health and income protection professionals – have been quick to realise the value of tangible data on treatment adherence, actively managing patient pathways and accountability when it comes to claims.
Whilst public health plays catch-up, it’s the willingness of the insurance world to embrace technology and try new things that’s pushing the boundaries of remote services. And numbers are growing. The Financial Conduct Authority’s latest Financial Lives survey and found that 14% of the UK adult population (7.6 million) people held private medical insurance in 2024 – up from 6.7 million in 2020. And it’s much higher elsewhere – EG 45% of people in Ireland. Employer-provided PMI accounts for about 80% of all policies so, if you want to know where tech is taking healthcare, start by asking your head of HR. If that draws a blank, then you’re welcome to take a look at www.dochq.co.uk.
