of respondents have never heard of a healthcare metaverse. In the age group of over 55-year-olds, it is 94 percent.
November 2022
For several years now, the healthcare industry has been undergoing a digital transformation. As in many other areas of the economy and society, technological progress is also leading to change there. The metaverse is being treated as a potentially major innovation. As part of our latest study with the Handelsblatt Research Insititute, we examine how both the population and experts are facing this development.
In general, the Metaverse represents an augmented digital world that operates primarily through technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. Unlike previous digital platforms or virtual worlds, the immersion of the virtual and physical world is greater in the Metaverse, making meeting and interacting a more "real" experience for users. The Metaverse offers versatile application possibilities and is thus also becoming increasingly relevant in healthcare. Possible application areas include digital twins, mental health, education and training, as well as general medical treatments.
The study points out that the healthcare metaverse still meets low acceptance among the population despite its growing potential. For the majority of respondents, this is due to the still low level of knowledge about the metaverse and a high level of mistrust with regard to data security in the areas of application.
80%
46%
do not consider their health data in a healthcare metaverse to be sufficiently protected against access by unauthorized third parties. The survey also reveals the public's concern that their health status may be falsified.
48%
would not want to use the healthcare metaverse at all. Those who would use it would do so mainly for faster access to specialists without long waiting times.
67%
would make their own health data available to their doctor. One in ten, on the other hand, would not like to share their health data with third parties.
Leatn more and download the study.
A central aspect for the metaverse is the concept of the digital twin - the avatar - i.e. a digital copy of ourselves. Applied to a healthcare metaverse, this means that the avatar is equipped with the health values and characteristics of the real person, e.g., vital parameters such as pulse, blood pressure, body temperature, respiratory rate, but also medical history or eating and exercise habits. All this health data can then be used in the Metaverse to correlate with the vital data of the digital twin. In this way, for example, the effects of certain eating or even sporting habits on health can be extrapolated in 20 years' time - or even what will happen if these change. The digital twin can also be used to forecast the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, for example. A healthcare metaverse could thus become a real gamechanger for the entire healthcare sector and help us to live even healthier and longer in the future.
Stefan Savu, Partner at BearingPoint
The Metaverse offers unprecedented opportunities to revolutionize human health. With our paper, we have analyzed and outlined various use cases of the Healthcare Metaverse. In view of the reservations in the population regarding data privacy and the fact that 90 percent of people over 55 have never heard of a Healthcare Metaverse, there is an urgent need for information campaigns to bring the new possibilities for preventive healthcare closer to the people. From our point of view, it will also be immensely important in the future to bring the various players who are relevant to the healthcare metaverse even closer together. This means that each individual must have a heightened awareness of the security of his or her own data. Trusted primary care physicians or specialists, hospitals and health insurers, must be involved in new healthcare opportunities so that they act as ambassadors for the new technologies. Only when the possibilities of technology are understood can they be multiplied and communicated to the population.
Dr. Sven Jung, Head of Economic Intelligence at Handelsblatt Research Institute
Furthermore, the following healthcare experts comment on the Healthcare Mataverse in interviews in our paper:
- Dr. Anne Sophie Geier (Managing Director of the German National Association for Digital Health Care)
- Prof. Dr. Jörg F. Debatin (Health expert and former head of the Health Innovation Hub at the Federal Ministry of Health)
