The long wait for non-emergency healthcare, both privately and publicly, can be frustrating. Such is the extent of the problem that, some years ago, the Ministry of Health began to focus specific interventions on reducing waiting times at public-health facilities. Still, waiting time remains a problem, which I don’t believe we will be able to effectively tackle without the help of technology.
The current COVID-19 vaccination distribution programme had me thinking about the best ways to quickly identify segments of the population that could be most at risk, not just for COVID, but for any health issue that may come up and that we have to address nationally. We speak a lot about the social determinants of health, and now we can apply them to our healthcare planning, with technology, to get a better sense of the state and needs of the population and how we can address them with specific interventions.
There are many telehealth services, platforms, and devices on the market today. Yet, telehealth can still be considered to be in its infancy.
Technology has been changing the way we do things in the healthcare industry for years. Every year there are more and more innovations intended to improve care as well as various processes. Digitised healthcare has proven to be tremendously beneficial for patients and healthcare providers. It has eliminated the barriers of time and space and allowed for increased access. Telemedicine is also poised to revolutionise care and will be central to the digital health revolution.
The world over is dealing with the issue of ageing populations where the number of persons over 55 is steadily increasing while the number of children born to families reduces.
More persons are deciding to have one child or, maximum, two. Jamaica’s birthrate, for example, is approximately 2.01 per family while people are living longer due to advances in technology and improved health services. Living longer, however, does not necessarily equate to living healthier or having a better quality of life. Healthcare will be forced to catch up to this phenomenon.
In the past few years, a number of telemedicine vendors have entered the local market. This is a good indication that we are moving forward and evolving to incorporate digital health into the healthcare ecosystem. We still have a little way to go but we are on the right track.
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.
The number of preventable deaths each year is staggering.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 7.8 million people die of hypertension, 5.4 million die from smoking tobacco, 3.8 million from malnutrition, 3 million from STDs, 2.5 million from overweight and obesity, 2.8 million from poor diet, 2 million from physical inactivity and 1.9 million from alcohol.
Interoperability is what makes an electronic system, well a system. Connectivity is critical in any healthcare environment.
Health technology increases the rate of connectivity and access generally, but within that there also needs to be further connectivity. Interoperability is a fundamental part of this ecosystem.
I have had some experience implementing technology in entities that are completely new to it. This is not an easy process and can result in extended delays if not undertaken clinically.
My experiences include implementing health-system-related technology at entities such as pharmacies, hospitals, and medical practices. Like any normal change process, these things require a strategic approach.
