Health Equity in a Connected World

At Forum 2024, virtual care experts from around the world converged to discuss health equity—a universal challenge that transcends borders. Virtual care emerged in these discussions as a powerful tool linking patients, providers and communities across the globe—critical links that otherwise would not exist if not for virtual care capabilities. Here are the top takeaways from Forum 2024:

1. Health equity knows no boundaries: Virtual care can erase geographical barriers, which is important when the divide isn’t just local, but global. Using a digital lifeline to enable seamless connections between patients and clinicians has been proven to democratize access to care.
    
   
2. The power of timely interventions: In emergent scenarios, minutes matter. Virtual care can slash response times and help improve outcomes. Whether it’s a stroke, diabetic crisis or maternal complications, early interventions become possible. Access to personalized guidance from remote specialists can reduce complications, further advancing health equity.
   
   
3. Empowering local providers: Training programs through virtual platforms enhance local skills, allowing a nurse in a small clinic to broaden their scope of clinical knowledge to care for more complex patients. Virtual care also can connect local providers with global experts. Case discussions, second opinions and continuous learning become routine.
   
   
4. Data-driven insights: Technology generates data—and lots of it. Patterns emerge, outbreaks can be predicted and resources can be more strategically allocated. With digital tools, there is no more one-size-fits-all medicine. For example, experts shared AI use cases that can support personalized care plans.