Care

BIOMARKERS HAVE long been used in healthcare as a diagnostic and treatment aid. In addition, biomarkers such as those used to determine the probability of disease presence or development based on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have been used as a means of taking preventive action, by predicting disease progression and possible response to treatment. In this way, a treatment model can be developed for the patient even before symptoms begin.

JAMAICA IS on the cusp of a digital data revolution in healthcare. I was recently at The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) where my company is implementing the Health Information Management System (HIMS). I was heartened by the enthusiasm of the health workers there when Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton and his team toured the facility to see the progress of digitisation. I was even more pleased to learn that he, too, was excited by what he saw and had plans to fully digitise public health facilities – both hospitals and health centres.

WITH THE direction in which health and technology are going, it would be prudent for the issue of ownership and access to medical records to be worked out once and for all. With pertinent restrictions of course, access to medical records needs to be less prohibitive to the patient.

Earlier this year, I wrote an article about computer vision and how it can positively impact healthcare.

This kind of artificial intelligence (AI) is already a feature of health technology and is used to aid in diagnosis and treatment. AI research in health has been happening for years with spinal stimulation and brain computer interface.

The matter of male fertility is generally taboo in the Jamaican context because we men take our sexual prowess quite seriously.

Yet we have considerably more 'jackets' than many other nations. But this is by no means just a Jamaican issue. According to scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, sperm counts among men in the West have more than halved in the past 40 years and are currently falling by an average of 1.4 per cent a year.

I have always been fascinated by technology, so although I started my career as an accountant, I was pulled to the technology sphere where I managed to introduce industry-changing technology initiatives in banking, finance and health.

I have seen the positives that technology can have on individuals and entire sectors. This is a part of the reason I make it a point to attend the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference each year to see the new and emerging technologies in health.

Last week, I attended the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, which showcases the best of breed in health and supporting technology.

New, improved and emerging technology was on show and it was good to know that my vision for health technology is safely imbued in what is out there to support it.

There were hundreds of booths and I strategically made my way around those I thought could bring the most value to what we are doing, and plan to do, in Jamaica.

Jamaica is far ahead of the United States (US) in certain areas of healthcare. About 20 years ago, Jamaica started the process of digitising the health insurance industry, allowing providers to submit claims online in real time.

Universal access to health has been the buzz phrase for a few years now. When we think of this concept, we tend to think mostly of financial access, but it is much more than that.

Our system is currently skewed to providing financial access to health, which, in itself, is very important as it can be a great barrier to health-seeking behaviour.

We have been tackling the financial barrier with the no-user-fees policy and moved even further along with the recent signing of the consultancy agreement to begin work on the National Health Insurance Plan.

Traditionally, we think of going to a brick-and-mortar establishment when we want to visit a health professional either in a private practice or at a public facility.

But times are changing as access becomes more open with the development, implementation, and acceptance of health technology creating several options to remotely access healthcare.