Cybersecurity has been an important point of discussion for the last couple of years, and with good reason. As we continue to advance technologically, ways of intruding upon people’s privacy and compromising their online safety have also increased. Health institutions have to take particular care to prevent being compromised because patient data is highly sensitive and valuable.
We have been talking a lot about the digital future and the paradigm shift that has taken place in healthcare that sees us looking towards having technology as a major part of the system for the benefit of patients, caregivers and society at large. In fact, many strides have been made towards this in many countries, Jamaica included. We are now in the process of starting the groundwork for full digitisation of some of our public hospitals and health centres.
Patient engagement is one of the most important parts of healthcare. While healthcare providers can advise and prescribe, it is up to patients to ensure that they stick to the routine given and take the best decisions to improve their health.
It is well known that when persons participate in their health and have an understanding of the process, the likelihood of following the ‘doctors orders’ will be higher. As health technology gets more pervasive, patient portals have become a popular way by which people can access healthcare services.
We don’t often consider the importance of oral health to our overall well-being. The focus tends to be on extracting teeth that have gone bad rather than creating a holistic oral healthcare plan and matching the record and diagnoses to people’s larger health realities. If we are to begin to focus on holistic health and wellness, oral health must be a part of the equation.
With the adoption of electronic medical records and full integration of technology in healthcare, related disciplines like health informatics grew in significance because of the role it could play in driving more modernised, focused and comprehensive care.
Health technology is becoming a more mainstream part of healthcare in many parts of the world, and locally we have started to make headway in the use of electronic forms of healthcare access and delivery. There is a lot that can be done with technology in the healthcare sector, but when we think of health technology, we often think of the medical and other patient-care functions that technology can make more efficient and accessible.
The rate of COVID-19 vaccination has not been as fast as we would like, despite the reality that we are facing with the recent introduction of the more infectious Delta variant, and now the Mu variant, into the island.
The question of who really owns patient data is still largely unsettled. Is it the physician who compiled it? Is it the institution in the case of the hospital or a practice with multiple doctors, or are the patients the owners of their information? This is largely the question that has been a barrier to sharing patient records.
I find it quite commendable that the Government is now actively moving towards digitising healthcare. This is the direction in which the world is going, some faster than others, and certainly the direction in which this country must go. The COVID-19 pandemic, if nothing else, has shown us how health events and an unhealthy population can have significant negative impact on productivity and life as a whole.
Life in the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many lessons and ways to continue business and other aspects of life despite restrictions that prevented much physical interaction. Every aspect of life was affected, and some still continue to be.
