Every person’s life intersects with healthcare at some point, which naturally fuels a collective aspiration to secure the finest services for ourselves and those we cherish. Nevertheless, the healthcare landscape is an intricate web of diverse participants, such as patients, healthcare professionals, insurance companies, governmental bodies, and the pharmaceutical and MedTech sectors, all juggling a wide array of allied and occasionally conflicting priorities.
Although Ireland can take pride in securing the fourth smallest mortality rate amongst OECD nations during the Covid-19 crisis, the country’s healthcare framework is currently subjected to enduring strain. This situation, however, is not unique to Ireland. Numerous nations are grappling with record-breaking demands on their health services, coupled with a lack of workforce, escalating yearly costs, and catering to an increasingly informed and active populace. As we anticipate an extended lifespan and savour the fruits of scientific progress, governments worldwide find themselves on a perilous tightrope, attempting to harmonise the populace’s needs with the capabilities of a progressively intricate healthcare network.
The Irish Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, has recently unraveled the government’s scheme for digital health, labelled as ‘Digital for Care: A Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024-2030’. This strategy presents a pragmatic way to tether investment to palpable benefits for patients, care providers, and society at large. It grants Ireland an opportunity to overhaul its healthcare framework, whilst conceding that it is unrealistic to anticipate the delivery of high-tech care within a low-tech framework. Truth be told, our investment efforts in this realm have notably fluctuated over time. As innovative technologies revolutionize entire sectors, healthcare technology is frequently viewed as an adjunct to current care practices rather than a chance to re-engineer the formulation, provision, and experience of healthcare. Actualizing the full potential of transformative technologies necessitates an extensive re-envisioning of healthcare services delivery, reinforced by steadfast, long-term dedication and corresponding multi-annual investment.
Can we say that our demands of the healthcare system are both equitable and rational? Without a doubt, patients have a rightful expectation of obtaining appropriate care, at a convenient time and place that maximises the chance of a positive health outcome. However, the biggest global obstacle in healthcare remains access to these services. Society has generally adapted and welcomed the ease that digital disruption has triggered. Despite the persisting disparities, an increasing number of patients are becoming tech-savvy and eager to accrue knowledge that enables them to actively engage in handling their health and wellness. They perceive themselves as healthcare service consumers rather than inactive participants or mere recipients of generic data. As health services consumerism increases, there is an expectation for an integrated and easily reachable service delivery. Achieving this degree of adaptability for both the caregiver and patient is unattainable sans technology.
Radical innovations like automation, virtual health, and generative AI are revolutionising the healthcare sector. Just as we’ve grown familiar with virtual consultations in recent years, preliminary technologies are progressively seen as the go-to for common illnesses. Overburdened general practitioners will benefit from virtual meetings, home diagnostics, and digital prescriptions. Secure data platforms, instantaneous information, mobile applications and a network of connected healthcare providers will expedite consultation, diagnosis, prescription and doorstep delivery. The advantages are manifold, enabling patients to handle minor illnesses at home, whilst broadening the capability of our healthcare practitioners and hospitals to focus their skills on those with more intricate requirements.
The digitisation of medical records can be perceived as an initial move in the transformation of healthcare delivery, a step towards enhancing the efficiency of healthcare staff and bettering the patient experience — a reality that is widely accepted. The core principle of Sláintecare is integrated care, suggesting that coordinated care hinges on understanding a patient’s medicinal history, best illustrated by electronic health records (EHR). EHRs can be accessed by both patients and healthcare providers throughout the healthcare network. Even though Ireland’s EHR usage is relatively modest, the potential for growth is increasingly evident, along with the advantages of instant data access for effective preventative care and population health management. Key features like digital prescribing, placing orders and digitising clinical records can alleviate numerous daily challenges faced by healthcare workers whilst supporting a more harmonised patient care pathway. Mobile application-enabled EHRs facilitate features such as appointment and medication management. Conventional EHR tools, like many technological solutions, are consistently improved, with fully adaptable AI-powered cloud-native EHRs pushing the limits.
Medical professionals are reaping the benefits of emerging technologies, including complex analytics, ambient intelligence, and generative AI. These technologies particularly thrive in early disease detection, clinical decision-making support, diagnostics, and case management. Finland stands out in the realm of digital health as a trailblazer, with every citizen having an EHR. Finland’s unwavering dedication to digital healthcare is demonstrated by its extensive data repositories, investment in gene research and biobanking for precision medicine. Far more personalised treatments are becoming a reality, tailored to an individual’s genetic blueprint, making treatments predictive and assisting in achieving superior patient results. The Finns are prioritising overall wellbeing and prevention over a lifetime of responsive treatments.
Classic care protocols are reactive, resource-heavy and operate in expensive environments. With our lifespan expanding, alternate methodologies to prevent disease and deliver care are necessary. Disease prevention and personal health maintenance represent significant shifts in healthcare. The dynamic has altered from healthcare being bestowed upon patients, with patients instead playing active roles in engaging with healthcare systems to preserve their health and wellbeing along with appropriate interventions when needed.
The Government’s dedication to sustainable and fair care models is evidenced by the latest digital health strategy, which encourages greater digitisation and innovation to bolster the progression of virtual healthcare. The Irish health service is already progressing along this path. Virtual wards are a powerful tool, allowing patients who would ordinarily require acute hospitalisation to be observed remotely, and treated in their own homes. There is an ongoing rollout of numerous virtual care technologies across various health systems. This not only enhances acute disease management, but it also improves the quality of life for patients with chronic conditions through sensor-based technologies and remote monitoring devices. Digital technology plays a momentous role in this model and fortifies the vision of a proactive wellness management approach.
Investing in digital resources is a substantial task, and while it might not solve all healthcare concerns, technology, when utilised correctly, has the potential to revolutionise every facet of healthcare. This could include identifying capacity shortcomings, boosting efficiency, recognising patient risk, and delivering care to patients via alternative settings. Digital transformation readiness fluctuates among various settings and even generations, and many are yet to reap the benefits of certain emerging technologies. However, what’s fundamentally important for a thriving healthcare system is to take a ‘whole of health’ approach, utilising the power of digital to combat immediate challenges such as surging demand, access difficulties, spiralling costs, and workforce scarcities. Traditional models will not suffice in overcoming these worldwide obstructions; digital indeed plays an indispensable role in remedying the healthcare sector.
Recently, Minister Donnelly reaffirmed the Government’s dedication to assuring capacity, fair access, and significant bed capacity increases across the new regional healthcare system. So is this an exceptional ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to align the government’s digital health strategy with their proposed healthcare infrastructure investment to realise a new model of care for Ireland? The answer is an unequivocal “yes”. It is high time to harness the full potential of innovation, reimagine our healthcare sector and pave the way for a new digitally empowered health era.