EY Ireland Consumer Health Survey 2023 reveals people’s openness to digital technologies offers opportunity to transform Health Service in Ireland

The Irish public are ready to embrace digital health technologies and digitally-enabled pathways of care, including a willingness to share their health data to improve health outcomes and access to care, according to EY Ireland’s Consumer Health Survey 2023. The findings from EY’s latest research offers a real opportunity for policymakers to build future-focused, digital-first models of care, reimagining how healthcare is delivered in Ireland. If appropriately resourced and utilised, hybrid and virtual technologies have the potential to increase access to care, foster early detection and intervention, and help patients avoid hospital admission. 

The survey of 1,016 Irish consumers finds a strong willingness among the vast majority of people to adopt technology-enabled health services to monitor or improve their overall health. In fact, of those surveyed, 71 per cent indicated they would be prepared to take a genetic test to assess their predisposition to certain diseases or disorders.

A further 70 per cent said they would be open to using wearable devices to collect their health data, with 64 per cent saying they would agree to take medications based on genetic profiling. 64 per cent also agree that digital technologies will be used to monitor patients at home in the next 10 years. Most of those surveyed are responsive to sharing biometric (78%), lifestyle (75%) and genetic (67%) data with the healthcare professionals managing their care in order to improve overall health outcomes.

The survey findings underscore the opportunity for digital transformation to not only reshape the patient experience and patient outcomes, but to also improve overall engagement with the health system in Ireland. This technology adoption would also undoubtedly go some way to support the ongoing work to address greater access to care, maximise efficiencies and enhance cost effectiveness.

“The results of EY Ireland’s research demonstrate that people in Ireland are open to engaging differently with healthcare and see technology-enabled care as a way to increase access and improve their care experience. There is a willingness to engage with genetic testing, personalised medicines, hybrid and virtual care. As Ireland’s population simultaneously grows and ages, digital health technologies and digitally-enabled pathways of care can transform healthcare,” said Dr. Ronan Glynn, Partner and Health Sector Lead at EY Ireland.

“Digital transformation, driven by data, can reshape public and patient experience and engagement with the health system, improve workforce retention and recruitment, transform our approach to population health and keep people well in their communities, and ultimately, deliver more accessible, better integrated, more cost-effective and sustainable, person-centred care.

These findings show that the Irish public are taking personal responsibility for their health and want a health service that is focused on proactive engagement, rather than just reactive care. People want to be provided with tools to keep themselves well and avoid requiring expensive care. This represents an opportunity for the health service to co-create a healthier Ireland with the public. We can improve our population’s health by placing a sustained focus on prevention and early intervention, by viewing the public’s health as a national asset and as fundamental to a healthy economy.”

“Ireland’s population has grown by over 10% in the last 10 years and we have one of the fastest ageing populations in Europe. With people living longer, often with multiple chronic diseases, it needs to be a function of the health service into the future that staying well is an easier course of action for people than waiting until they become acutely unwell before engaging with the system,” said Niamh O’Beirne, Partner, Head of Business and People Consulting at EY Ireland.

Interestingly, the report identifies that older people (those who have retired) have shown a  particular willingness to embrace new technologies above the total population average, with 81 per cent saying they would undergo genetic tests to assess predisposition to certain diseases or disorders; a further 80 per cent indicating they would allow a wearable device to collect and transmit their health data; and 75 per cent claiming they are amenable to being treated in non-traditional settings, including virtually, at home or in retail settings.

“In delivering digital-first models of care, however, we must recognise that access to digital technologies as well as digital skills and levels of engagement with those technologies will vary across the population and care will be needed to avoid creating a digital health divide,” said Dr. Ronan Glynn, Partner and Health Sector Lead at EY Ireland.

“Ultimately, our survey findings demonstrate that there is a real opportunity to build digitally-enabled, future focussed care to accelerate the delivery of world-class, patient-first healthcare in Ireland. Our report makes a number of recommendations, placing data at the core in order to maximise the opportunity that now presents, namely: viewing data as a core asset; creating a digitally enabled workforce; fostering digital inclusion; safeguarding trust with sound cybersecurity; prioritising patient and clinician experience; adapting a ‘whole health system’ mindset; building partnership and collaboration across the health ecosystem and ensuring a systematic approach to evaluation. Working in harmony, these recommendations can harness the potential to transform our approach to population health and keep people well in their communities.”

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