Executive Summary

While 5G networks are still being developed, and the healthcare industry is only beginning to explore the technology’s use cases, 5G is poised to become one of the most promising technologies for facilitating healthcare’s digital transformation.

Why will 5G be so important for healthcare?

5G networks’ performance advancements will serve as the backbone of emerging technologies that will reinvent the healthcare world and drive improvements across three key areas: boosting annual cost savings, increasing patient access to quality healthcare, and improving patient experiences.

Which applications of 5G should healthcare organizations prioritize?

Health systems should prioritize patient-focused applications when beginning their 5G digital transformation. These applications include remote patient monitoring (RPM) and virtual video consultations. Forward-looking healthcare companies should keep these applications top of mind and plan to partner with telecoms to unlock the benefits of the 5G standard.

How can healthcare organizations prepare for 5G?

To ensure that 5G deployments are successful, healthcare organizations need to first have a clear understanding of the challenges facing their business and identify areas where costs could be optimized. Then, a plan focused on anticipating the future needs of the use case and the network requirements to support it will be essential. Healthcare organizations should also evaluate which vendors—including telecoms, hardware, software, content, and other tech providers—they’d like to include in their partner ecosystem for each of the various applications of 5G.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? The report analyzes how healthcare organizations can prepare for 5G and explores five patient-focused applications that can be enhanced or transformed by 5G networks.

KEY STAT: 5G is expected to bring annual global cost savings of $600 million to the healthcare industry in 2021—with annual global cost savings reaching nearly $94 billion by 2030.