Cardiology’s digital future is within reach: here is how to close the gaps

In 2025, more than 20 million people will die from cardiovascular disease and conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol that increase its risk. By 2050, heart disease prevalence is projected to rise by 90% and deaths will increase to 35 million.

In the United States alone, healthcare costs related to cardiovascular risk factors are expected to triple during that time.

Technology is essential to tackle this problem.

In today’s fast-paced world, the integration of AI in healthcare sector and specifically cardiology is rapidly transforming the landscape. AI can make healthcare more precise, efficient and personalized and is already enhancing patient care and addressing staff shortages through innovative solutions like autonomous scanning and remote expert consultations. Existing technologies, however, are often not providing the assistance that cardiologists want and need.

To learn about cardiologists’ challenges and how they believe digital tools could help address them, Boston Consulting Group surveyed 300 cardiologists in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and China.

Cardiologists reported that they spend an average of seven hours each week on administrative tasks. They estimated that with the right digital tools they could save five of those hours, leaving them more time to care for patients, particularly new ones. Overall, the added time could translate into an additional 8,500 clinic visits per year in the United States alone.

While nearly half of cardiologists said they see value in wider adoption of digital tools, two thirds said they are frustrated by the current solutions. Cardiologists reported specifically difficulty accessing patient medical histories and scheduling and coordinating diagnostic tests and patient appointments. Coordinating care with other healthcare professionals was a struggle as was reviewing and comparing earlier diagnostic tests.

Addressing these challenges should be a top priority for industry players in cardiology and in the health sector in general, where the current digital health market of more than $400 billion is expected to reach $1,250 billion in 2030. A significant emphasis is on innovation and breakthrough technologies in both digital and AI, including AI-based diagnostic tools, lifestyle modification apps and clinical decision support tools that empower patients and support clinicians in making faster and more accurate decisions.

The cardiology sector sees great potential in digital technologies, as they can alleviate pain points across the continuum of care. Many of the recurring issues that cardiologists encounter are common across other specialties as well.

However, existing digital cardiology and healthcare solutions often fall short because they are not fully integrated into a practice’s workflow in a way that efficiently and effectively helps cardiologists and their patients. Digital and AI tools that address one problem or do one task well cannot meet these specialists’ needs and they represent a significant extra cost that practices may be unwilling to absorb.

In a fast-paced environment, clinicians have limited time and capacity to learn how to use new tools. And cardiologists said they were often stymied by complex interfaces, non-intuitive design and insufficient training resources.

To be effective, digital technologies need to be seamless, intuitive, easy to use and scaleable. A practical example is a tool developed by Philips and AWS: a cloud-based service where clinicians have a unified view on patient data from diverse diagnostic sources such as radiology images and clinical records.

In the survey, three quarters of the cardiologists said they value interoperable, integrated end-to-end solutions when considering adopting digital technology, while 42% identified tools that integrate seamlessly with electronic medical records as a key selling point.

Overall, most cardiologists’ willingness to pay for digital services remains low. But when asked about their willingness to pay for digital tools that address their biggest pain points, nearly twice as many (28%) said they are willing to make a financial investment in digital tools.

Moving beyond narrow digital solutions that address a single problem towards a connected healthcare ecosystem requires an orchestrated approach rather than one that focuses on individual company designs.

No single company can select and integrate digital tools with existing IT architectures and clinical workflows to meet the needs of cardiologists and other healthcare providers. Cross-industry collaboration is necessary and already underway.

For example, the American College of Cardiology and AI company Aidoc are partnering to refine the AI-enabled diagnosis of coronary artery calcium and incorporate it into existing workflows. Similarly, Philips and AWS have a strategic collaboration to integrate Philips’ diagnostic imaging portfolio to the cloud, aiming to streamline workflows and enhance access to imaging data across care settings.

Establishing new and strengthening existing connections across digital tools will require the creation of a supportive ecosystem. Strategic partnerships that foster co-creation among industry players will be key to developing seamless, user-centric solutions that meet the expectations of cardiologists and other clinicians.

The World Economic Forum’s Digital Healthcare Transformation Initiative is a flagship effort to achieve a digitally re-imagined healthcare ecosystem. It is a unique platform to enable dialog between all stakeholders by breaking down the traditional silos in the healthcare industry to encourage co-innovation. Its network enables an ongoing exchange between public and private stakeholders worldwide to scale digital and AI solutions in health. This ecosystem, among others, is key to developing the right tools to revolutionize cardiology and healthcare more generally.