Although information technology has transformed many sectors of the economy in recent years, its impact on the delivery of health care services has so far been limited. This is now set to change with the emergence of three key trends that will not only impose major structural changes on the industry, but will also have significant implications for the profile of the industry’s top talent.

First, there is the fast-developing field of bioinformatics – the application of information sciences and tools to biological, medical, behavioral and health data. Of particular importance here is the development of gene-based diagnostics and therapeutics, whose potential for clinical impact has been well publicized. A less frequently discussed aspect of this practical application of genomic data is the staggering demand for information storage and processing needed to put the information to use. As individual patient genetic information is mapped and recorded, the industry will shift from tracking bills and episodes of care to managing a dataset that may be literally a million times larger for each individual accessing the health care system. Both the scale of the data management requirements and the continually changing data set will require that patients and care givers can access a durable clinical record. It simply will not be possible to type in a new gene map every time a patient changes dentist or moves to a new city.

This evolving need for multipoint access to complex patient information, combined with the need for efficiency in administrative processes, will lead to the second major trend - the development of the electronic medical record (EMR) –already underway. The EMR is a unified, secure data set, available in standardized format, which is readily accessible to patients, care givers, insurers and others as authorized (e.g. government, military, employers). With the additional major benefit of error prevention, the EMR provides a relational database rather than a document management system and it is durable for the lifetime of the patient.

Thirdly, there will be an ever-increasing use of IT in therapeutic applications such as imaging, disease management, remote monitoring and the development and administration of treatment protocols. As information becomes available in machine accessible forms, algorithms for the delivery of care will be determined by a combination of physician and computer. This will allow predictive and preventative medicine and ready access to historical and population data. An electronic medical record will provide care givers with the capacity to manage a much more complex set of variables for clinical decision-making.

Already there is evidence that these trends are changing health care as a whole. One immediate concern (to the industry), however, is the extent to which these developments will have implications for retaining and recruiting the industry’s top professionals, since leaders throughout the Life Sciences Industry will increasingly be required to demonstrate not only an awareness of what is possible in IT but also a vision of both the business and scientific impact of technology on the industry. We predict a sharp rise in demand for C-suite figures with a background in IT – and not just from established industry leaders such as Philips, Siemens, AGFA and GE Healthcare.

The search for qualified leaders is also set to heat up in other sectors attempting to meet the explosive demand for solutions in healthcare. These include traditional health insurance, technology and service providers, but increasingly secular hardware and software providers such as Dell, Cisco, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Oracle are making large investments in the healthcare space or organizing healthcare vertical businesses and seeking experienced leaders to manage them. Finally, there is an almost unlimited pool of private capital seeking to form businesses around every stripe of healthcare information. The entry of many new players and the changing standards for the existing players make competition keen. Now that the right combination of leadership, strategy and technical skills is becoming difficult to find, talent is beginning to cross industry lines.

There will continue to be high demand for healthcare professionals who not only understand IT, but also have the ability to use their insight into the evolving integration of information technology and healthcare delivery to drive changes in business processes and the core products their companies offer. The ability to identify and assess those individuals who have the strategy, leadership and technical competence to help reshape the industry will be greatly appreciated and sought after by our clients across the Life Sciences, services and high-tech sectors.