Supporting the workforce for digital transformation
The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for the digital transformation of healthcare, ‘the future of health tech and thus healthcare is bright’
Words by Dr. Ryan Grech and Dr. Dylan Attard, Clinical & Health Tech Advisors for MedTech World and two of the co-founders of Digital Health Malta.
In the previous article, Dr. Ryan Grech and Dr. Dylan Attard outlined their top tips for healthcare professionals navigating the world of remote consultations.
Our insight today is perhaps a bit more personal. Both of us have been involved in the healthcare world as practising physicians for over four years and we have been fortunate enough that during different parts of our rotations we have been involved with individuals who have been passionate about trying to improve the healthcare service. This is not to say that it was always the case, but when you encounter someone who is devoted to making healthcare better it inspires you to do the same.
We are at a point, dare we say globally, where most countries are seeing that as more time passes their healthcare system is becoming over-stretched primarily because it gets costlier month after month for several reasons with resources getting scarce.
Human resources are one of the biggest assets to any healthcare infrastructure and therefore we need to make sure that they are empowered to find the solutions and allow them to make the necessary changes rather than burying them with endless bureaucracy that will make them give up (understandably) early on. More and more people are getting disillusioned with healthcare because the good that they believe they could do is hampered by ever increasing paperwork and external stress.
In light of this, we must look at the next big challenge for healthcare systems after COVID dwindles, digital transformation, most of which dearly need it.
We have seen through COVID that tech has been a lifesaver, and this is not just from the telemedicine side of things which is probably the easiest to recognize. Look at the immense contribution technology gave to vaccine development, track and trace technology, development and testing of potential drugs through crunching massive amounts of data, 3D technology in printing adequate face coverings, symptom checkers, robots being used as support systems and many many more. The rapid adoption has been great which shows us that we don’t necessarily need to have cumbersome processes to ensure safe and effective deployment of tech.
One thing is for sure if we let our clinicians drive change along with respective management, engineers and relevant SMEs as has been the case throughout this pandemic, the future of health tech and thus healthcare is bright. In healthcare, we use a multidisciplinary approach for most of our patients because by bringing different experts together to discuss the patient you ensure the best care possible. Similarly, the digital transformation of healthcare requires a multidisciplinary approach to treating healthcare as the patient because no one can do this alone.
So our plea today to healthcare stakeholders all over the world is to connect innovators and enable them. Offer them your whole support and let the digital transformation of healthcare flourish like never before.
Med-Tech World: 18th-19th November 2021
The Med-Tech World conference, which follows a successful digital event in 2020, will run from 18th-19th November 2021 and will highlight innovations and developments in digital health across the globe. With so many countries realising the potential for exponential growth, Med-Tech World will address the opportunities and challenges driving this multi-million forum – embracing the potential for technological innovation to change the face of medicine in this global sector. Register your interest here!
