Prevention and tech could help save billions on Swiss healthcare costs, says Deloitte

By placing greater emphasis on prevention, healthcare spending in Switzerland could be reduced by CHF30 billion per year by 2040, according to a Deloitte Switzerland study. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Healthcare spending in Switzerland could rise steeply to more than CHF160 billion a year ($200 billion) by 2040, according to Deloitte Switzerland. But by focusing on prevention and technology, it would be possible to reduce the bill by CHF30 billion a year, according to the audit and consulting firm. However, not all specialists are convinced.

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By placing greater emphasis on prevention, healthcare spending in Switzerland could be reduced by CHF30 billion per year by 2040, according to a Deloitte Switzerland study reported by Le Matin Dimanche. If nothing is done, the bill, which was CHF87 billion in 2019, will rise to CHF163.5 billion in 2040, the study shows.

With “a comprehensive reorientation of healthcare”, it is possible to mitigate the shock to CHF131.2 billion, the study adds. The savings come from a reduction in spending on therapy and rehabilitation. Deloitte used a model developed in the United States for its calculation, adapting it to Switzerland, based on 2019 data.

Divided doctors

Beyond simple lifestyle recommendations, Deloitte calls for prevention based on technological innovation: artificial intelligence, applications promoting healthy behaviors, DNA sequencing, etc.

All the professionals interviewed by the Sunday newspaper stress the importance of prevention in promoting health and combating skyrocketing costs. But some health experts are not totally supportive of this technological shift advocated by Deloitte.

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Idris Guessous, head physician at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and a member of the executive committee of the Swiss Society of General Internal Medicine, is convinced. He believes digital solutions are important at a time when human resources in the healthcare sector are scarce.

But Valérie D’Acremont, a physician and epidemiologist at Unisanté, warns against expensive technology whose value to patients is not always proven. And Professor Yannis Papadaniel of the Lausanne School of Social Work and Health (HETSL) shares similar skepticism. He reckons personalised medicine, based on genetic probabilities and requiring extensive infrastructure, is not a miracle solution.

Prevention: Switzerland lags

Although the topic of preventive medicine is increasingly a topic of political debate, Switzerland remains far from its stated ambition. Only 1.8% of healthcare costs were allocated to prevention in 2023, a proportion that has remained relatively stable since 2010, notes Le Matin Dimanche.

“We’re not only coming up against habits, but also rigid systems,” says Solange Peters, head of the Department of Medical Oncology at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). The problem with the Swiss healthcare system is also the lack of financial incentives to focus on prevention, other observers note.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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