Put the horse before the cart: Have a plan, and HealthTech will pay off

It is said that numbers tell a story, and healthcare’s evolution is a numbers-driven narrative. Treating disease and sickness is essentially a holistic concept. It combines the physical, cellular-level challenges of the body with mental fortitude and the power of faith to initiate recovery. Nevertheless, this physical-mental-spiritual integration is founded on the hard ground of data, the absence of which can skew healthcare outcomes.

Since the dawn of medicine, data has been indispensable in devising cures and treatments. The modern era in healthcare, defined by the miracles of technology, has brought us a plethora of data-generating healthcare devices, transforming the scope and possibilities of precision and predictive medicine. Data is the building block from the micro-level of personal wearables to macro-level new-generation devices in diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation.

However, these gigantic volumes of data can often be unintegrated and unstandardised and here enters HealthTech as the pivotal data aggregator and data educator. It is seminal and indispensable because data without analysis is dead matter. And data lacking security and management is a loose cannon.

HEALTHTECH SMARTLY ADDRESSES THESE URGENCIES.

The primary role of HealthTech, therefore, is to create an enhanced patient experience which means treatment outcomes are improved. This is realised through patient data analysis, which helps convert the information into intelligible, actionable policies and processes.

Enabling a patient-centric healthcare journey is an integrated process involving various touch points and inputs. Using HealthTech to make every step easy, seamless and result oriented is a non-negotiable best practice in modern medicine.

AT PRIME, WE CALL THIS APPROACH THE CONNECTED JOURNEY.

This journey begins with a smooth start by offering patients a choice of channels to set up their first interface with us, i.e., website, chatbot, mobile app, WhatsApp, and contact centre. We ensure patients connect to us quickly and seamlessly at every step. It is the value of first impressions, and PRIME believes in converting them into positive lasting impressions.

EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY ARE AT THE HEART OF HEALTHCARE, AND HEALTHTECH IS A CATALYST FOR BOTH.

At PRIME, we have single-patient records across the group and all systems, such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Lab Information System and PACS for radiology, for example, are interlinked, saving doctors’ and patients’ time as all the information is streamlined and one-point located. So, across our branches and entities (medical centre, hospital, diagnostic centre, pharmacy), access to patient data is a unified resource.

We use AI in radiology to help radiologists improve their efficiency and accuracy, employ consumerised technology like WhatsApp, etc., to enhance Patient Experience (PX), and have data warehouse and analytics to improve processes efficiency and clinical outcomes.

PRIME was one of the first in the region to launch a mobile app for patients, enabling easy access to their medical records, with features such as visit history, medication and reminders, and lab and radiology results. Our mobile app for doctors provides lab alerts and access to patient records from any geo-location to take timely action.

The consolidated patient data is leveraged to help patients stay on track with their care plans. For instance, PRIME delivers reminders to patients with diabetes and hypertension on their regimen, which has shown a 60 per cent improvement in diabetic patient’s blood glucose levels (HbA1c). 

We are ramping up this strategy through our home monitoring program for chronic diabetic patients to help them course-correct sugar levels and blood pressure using real-time data. Our alerts act as real-time assistance to ensure better treatment outcomes.

HEED THIS CALL OR PAY THE PRICE

The ubiquity of Healthtech is a clarion call to healthcare entities to up their future-ready strategy. PRIME thrives on change management to ensure end-users adopt the technology, which helps improve the organisation's digital culture. We believe it is essential to involve all stakeholders, internal and external, including customers/patients, for cohesive success. However, I would like to emphasise that a blind adoption of HealthTech is not the answer. Always put the horse before the cart: figure out your business strategy or challenge first, and then draw up a HealthTech investment plan.

We live in the era of displacement fears. The bogey of technology at the expense of human labour must be banished, and employees must be assured that their growth can be concurrent with digital evolution. We are partners in this journey, not adversaries, so the solutions are not implemented in isolation; they need to be interfaced/integrated to enable 360-degree inclusivity of patients and care providers.

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An excellent example of such human-technological integration is the use of AI in radiology. Medical imaging AI can augment the highest level of accuracy because human exhaustion due to long shifts can impair judgement. AI medical imaging gives radiologists peace of mind knowing that they have an extra level of support.

Another example is the domain of personal wearables. It triggered initial fears of widening the gap between consumers and care providers. The former was thought to be empowered by the data generated by wearables to help them enjoy health autonomy. But this turned out to be a false promise because data alone is not the magic cure, as we have discussed earlier. If data is not interpreted correctly, it has no value.

While data is the goal, HealthTech is also reinventing the means of data generation. Consumers have a choice of means to access healthcare services: online booking through chatbots, mobile apps, WhatsApp, Teleconsultation, remote monitoring of treatments, customised home healthcare and home delivery of medicine.

Ultimately, HealthTech is like the clay on a potter’s wheel. Unless experienced and seasoned hands shape it, it will not take enduring forms. The biggest challenge for healthcare organisations is to develop HealthTech maturity. Employee training and engagement to ensure clinical and non-clinical staff are equally comfortable adopting the technology is a must-have. The transitioning to new possibilities should be an ongoing journey, and every healthcare organisation must embed innovation pods of technical, medical, and non-medical employees who sustainably explore options.

In today's world, IT has shifted from running services to enabling business, which is no different in healthcare. IT leaders should play a leading role in transforming healthcare, senior management should play a significant role in driving the digital maturity of the hospital, and doctors should adopt technology to enable patients to stay healthy using tech.