Telecommunications powerhouse Vodafone has announced the formation of a new strategic alliance with Big Four firm Deloitte to speed the adoption of virtual healthcare. The Vodafone Centre for Health with Deloitte is a virtual hub that will combine Vodafone’s connected healthcare solutions with Deloitte’s healthcare consulting expertise to enable healthcare connections for patients when and where they need them.

The alliance will combine the expertise of both companies’ digital, technology, and healthcare professionals as they collaborate to streamline access to virtual healthcare and develop new solutions for patients and healthcare providers. Vodafone already serves more than 20 million healthcare devices globally via IoT, AI, 5G, and edge computing for the sector. Deloitte employs over 24,000 skilled professionals in its Life Sciences and Healthcare arm, which provides healthcare organizations with industry-leading digital transformative services. Both organizations are committed to leveraging their capabilities to improve access to and quality of worldwide healthcare, starting in Europe and expanding to other global regions.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has driven the expansion of virtual services in healthcare, with an increasing number of providers leveraging technology to streamline delivery of healthcare services and improve patient inclusiveness. A recent study by the Vodafone Institute showed that 92% of European citizens believe that the healthcare sector needs urgent support through the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. The new partnership looks to provide that much-needed support by driving innovation and digital transformation of healthcare in hospitals, the community, and at home. With digitalization being a key goal for many governments’ recovery programs, the move comes at an ideal time.

Richard Houston, Chief Executive of Deloitte North and South Europe, said, “The pandemic has widened inequalities within our society and the provision of healthcare is not as accessible or as inclusive as it should be. We want to change that, and technology will play a critical role…. Deloitte and Vodafone will be at the heart of this—working together to do so at scale, using our digital skills to transform healthcare provision for everyone.”