COVID-19 Crisis Uncovered Weaknesses in German Healthcare, Raising Interest in Digital Transformation
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in the German healthcare market, raising interest in digital transformation among insurers (payers) and healthcare providers, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group ( ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Healthcare Digital Services report for Germany finds operational challenges and higher demand for care revealed the country’s healthcare sector was already weak in several areas even before the crisis. For example, the continuing use of analog processes has been a roadblock to efficiency and cost reduction and the industry needs better systems for telehealth, which is vital to addressing both COVID-19 and ongoing rural healthcare needs.
The country’s healthcare providers and payers are meeting these challenges through digitization solutions, especially ones involving automation, artificial intelligence and the provision of resources from the cloud, the report says.
“German healthcare companies recognize the need for digital transformation now more than ever,” said Andrea Spiegelhoff, ISG EMEA partner based in Germany. “As they start to act on their plans, service providers that understand industry requirements and regulations are well positioned to support successful rollouts.”
There were many pressures for change in the German healthcare sector even before the COVID-19 outbreak, ISG says. Companies are addressing the country’s aging population, growing demand for convenience and increasing regulation of services and data. In the most important recent change to the laws governing healthcare, all health insurance companies and health insurers in Germany were required to begin using electronic patient records on January 1, 2021. While some regulations have limited digitization in the sector, this act stimulated it.
Increasing competition is another important driver of digital transformation as the German healthcare sector grows more dynamic and global, especially among payers, according to the report. Health insurance providers already are more advanced than healthcare providers in overall digitization. Other major reasons for digitization are goals around cost control and improved patient engagement.
The pandemic has also revealed the benefits of operational flexibility for payers, boosting interest in migration to the cloud and in cloud delivery of business process as a service (BPaaS). CIOs at payer organizations are especially seeking out BPaaS providers that understand the industry’s specific requirements and regulations, ISG says.
The digitization service providers that can best serve the German healthcare sector have a broad portfolio of services, expertise in local regulations, deep industry knowledge and skills in consulting on both business and IT, the report says.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Healthcare Digital Services report for Germany evaluates the capabilities of 24 providers across three quadrants: Payer Business Process as a Service, Payer Digital Transformation Services and Provider Digital Transformation Services.
The report names Accenture as a Leader in all three quadrants. It names Atos, CANCOM, Computacenter and IBM as leaders in two quadrants each. Cognizant, Deutsche Telekom (Telekom Healthcare Solutions), Deutsche Telekom (TSI) and DXC are named as Leaders in one quadrant each.
In addition, Cognizant is named as a Rising Star—a company with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition—in one quadrant.
A customized version of the report is available from CANCOM.
The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Salesforce Ecosystem Partners report for the U.S. is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.
About ISG Provider Lens™ Research
The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.
A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.
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