Industry leaders are rethinking the critical role of people when harnessing advances in digital technologies. We have identified four themes that will have a significant impact in the life sciences industry over the next 12 months.

1. Accenture Life Sciences
Rethink Reshape Restructure…for better patient outcomes
People + Technology:
A new double-helix for Life Sciences
Technology Vision for Life Sciences 2016

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The combination of digital technologies
and people creates huge opportunity for
truly patient-centered healthcare
This convergence is helping drive three
dramatic shifts in healthcare:
1. Digital is transforming what patients
expect from the services and care they
receive.
2. The convergence of the consumer and
clinical domains arising from ubiquitous
connectivity and wearables.
3. A significant shift in healthcare business
models from the volume of medicines,
products and devices sold to the value
delivered by patient outcomes achieved
across an entire healthcare system.
84.3%
of life sciences companies
anticipate a rapid or
unprecedented increase in
the pace of technology
over the next three years.

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We have identified four themes that will have a significant impact in the
life sciences industry over the next 12 months:
Industry leaders are rethinking the
critical role of people when harnessing
advances in digital technologies.
Volume to
Value
As people are seeking
greater involvement in
managing their health,
life sciences companies
have to increase their
focus on meeting
changing consumer
needs.
Intelligent
Enterprise
In order to manage the
explosion of data in the life
sciences industry, companies
must develop partnering
strategies with others in the
health ecosystem and start
using intelligent machines to
help manage, process and
analyze data on an
unprecedented scale.
The Platform
Business
The platform becomes the
business model enabling life
sciences companies to
create innovative services,
and new sources of value.
Liquid
Workforce
Life sciences companies
must focus on creating
new corporate cultures
where technology
enables their people to
constantly adapt and
learn.

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Life sciences companies have to understand how these developments affect their
product strategies and invest in developing new services that focus much more
closely on meeting changing patient needs. In terms of patient services,1 this
means an evolution to the next generation of business models and strategies.
38%
of life sciences companies
are automating routine
tasks so they can free up
time and resources to
innovate and create new
business models.
88%
of executives agree
their IT organization is
ready to respond to the
increased focus on
patient and health
economic outcomes.
1 Patient services include, but are not limited to, education or information,
financial assistance, reward programs, physical referrals and nurse support.

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• Get to know customers more
intimately than ever before. That
means deep immersion in their daily
lives to understand what really matters
to each of them.
• Start by designing for outcomes. If a
service isn’t creating data to
demonstrate improved outcomes, it’s
unlikely to be adding value to either the
business, or its customers.
• Identify where existing services can
be enhanced or expanded. Focus on
capturing real data illustrating the
impact their services have today and
use technology and data to understand,
adapt and differentiate from competitors
with new offerings and services.
• Measure the outcome of services.
Increase investments in data analytics
metrics, and reporting and tracking
technologies.

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The essential new co-worker in this world of data is the machine. Capabilities like
artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are being used to complement human
skills and people, providing opportunities for new growth and innovation.
75%
of life sciences executives
expect the growth rate in
data to double in the next
year alone.
>70%
of executives are making
significantly greater
investments in AI-related
technologies today
versus two years ago.

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• Establish a top-down strategic
commitment to artificial intelligence
and data science, consisting of R&D
investment, innovation programs, and
production development.
• Establish a cross functional team,
bringing together IT, Data Science and
Domain advisors to establish a big data
capability combining new sources of
data, such as EMR, Wellness and social
media.
• Look at how technologies can be
applied to internal operations by
piloting a machine-learning approach to
discover new data associations.
• Develop machine-learning skills
utilizing defined data for a very specific
purpose, choosing an application that
benefits from advanced analytics, such
as personalization.
• Create a training program to help
confirm data scientists and IT solution
architects are educated in the latest
deep-learning and AI technologies,
specifically in natural language
processing and image recognition.

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Life sciences companies would be able to engage in new ways with patients,
providers, governments and other stakeholders, as well as with one another to
deliver innovative products and services using platforms they co-create or choose
to work with.
80%
of life sciences
executives agree that
platform-based business
models will become part
of their organization’s
core growth strategy
within three years.
81%
of life sciences
executives believe
platform-based business
models are defining the
new rules of business in
the digital economy.

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• Accelerate uptake of digital
technologies and cloud foundations as
a crucial first step towards breaking into
the platform world. The vision is to
reinvent healthcare through an
ecosystem of interconnected patients,
providers and partners.
• Adapt to the new business rules of
the platform economy. These will
provide different paths to growth that
would not only generate high margins
but will help rapidly scale up to
hundreds of millions of patients,
devices, and sensors processing a
seamless flow of data that will improve
the quality and cost of patient care.

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73%
believe a more fluid
workforce will improve
(vs. derail) innovation.
53%
of business leaders find
it hard to attract and
retain millennial talent.
Within the enterprise: To capture opportunities ahead of the competition, they
need to attract and retain the digital talent that will be a decisive component of
future competitiveness.
Out in the marketplace: It’s essential for sales reps to keep pace with new
developments while understanding the digital environment in which physicians
operate every day (e.g. EMR systems, e-prescribing and other connected health
advances).

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• Identify priority roles within the
business that are unfilled because the
appropriate talent is hard to find.
• Determine the investments that
would be needed in facilities,
technology and people to expand the
organization’s training capabilities.
• Create a new employee engagement
strategy based on what millennials
demand from their employers.
• Identify where digital
tools/capabilities can be used to
support more effective sales
rep/customer interactions.

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Every business will be starting from a different point in the critical journey that lies
before them. Thinking about the questions below can help companies gauge their
readiness for the road ahead:
Which emerging business model is
most applicable to the different parts of
the business?
To what extent will product portfolios
come under pressure to demonstrate
quantified improvements in patient
outcomes?
How will services differentiate or
enhance product portfolios?
What strategy will be needed to create
or engage in new platforms that would
shape the industry?
How will the company set about creating
new partnerships with new digital health
businesses?
How effectively does the business
attract and develop digital-native talent?

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As they address these questions, life sciences companies will need to
focus on the outcomes that digital can deliver: flexibility, simplicity, value
and a decisive pivot to the patient. Leaders already recognize that
simply investing in more technology isn’t the answer. In the digital era
they understand that their success depends on combining people and
technology to differentiate themselves and outperform.
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