Over 50 per cent of UK healthcare businesses have yet to benefit from digital transformation, according to a new report from Equator.

The research surveyed 20 private equity backed healthcare businesses to assess the sector’s digital maturity.

Private equity firms invested over £140 billion across 1,227 healthcare deals in 2019 according to Equator’s data, with the sector now accounting for 14% of total private equity deal value.

The research claimed that 40 per cent of websites they reviewed could benefit from using ‘human-centred’ design principles to accommodate evolving consumer preferences, and that none used tools like chatbots and AI to enhance their overall customer experience.

The research went on to claim that healthcare businesses are missing out on opportunities to improve patient experience, which they say is crucial to acquiring and retaining customers, and that they could benefit from using digital technology to remove paperwork, investing in digital appointment-making solutions, or using machine learning and AI to support carers in their daily work.

85 per cent of website platforms used in healthcare are inappropriate for scaling businesses the research claimed, while only 25 per cent feature eCommerce or omnichannel sales and most websites reviewed served only ‘brochureware’ experiences.

The businesses surveyed also showed minimal care for effective activity tracking according to Equator, only a mere 10 per cent of websites surveyed performed well on mobile, which they attributed to the lack of an enterprise CMS.

The report concluded that not all problems are technical and though most businesses have a content strategy, nearly all the respondents said they suffered from low engagement and failed to connect owned, paid and earned media platforms.

“Healthcare businesses need to move towards personalisation models and deliver consistent and engaging experiences at each stage of the journey,” said Garry Hamilton, chief growth officer at Equator. “They need to prioritise investment in contemporary systems and smart tools to offer a world-class patient and user-service experience.”

He added: “A digital assessment and 24–36-month strategy is crucial for healthcare portfolio businesses when thinking about an exit and demonstrating the potential for additional future value creation and high return on investment opportunities for current or future backers.”

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