Everything is going digital so it is no surprise that it has a prominent role to play in the health industry as well. Enter digital health, which is the practical application of digital transformation into the healthcare sector. Digital health combines software and hardware services with diagnostics, data collection and patient care to produce wearable monitoring devices, telehealth, telemedicine, mobile health apps, electronic health record keeping, and even personalised medicines. This budding, booming industry includes a diverse array of stakeholders such as patients, caregivers, medical health professionals, application developers, medical device manufacturers, distributors, regulatory bodies and the like. As with all things technological as well as the number of key stakeholders in the industry, this comes together to create a very dynamic and at times, even volatile environment. Navigating this environment can be challenging for businesses and consumers alike.
The ever growing scope of digital health
There are a great many innovations and new products that redefine the digital health space. However, there are a key few that has the potential, (and to a great extent already has), to revolutionise healthcare as we know it. These are the internet of medical things (IoMT), medicine and augmented reality, and blockchain-based EMRs.
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
The internet of medical things are the amalgamation of medical devices and software applications that connect healthcare with IT systems that utilise networking technologies. Telemedicine is a good practical example of how IoMT can be applied in healthcare. Telemedicine systems keep doctors and patients connected, making for improved communication, while lowering the risk of exposure to disease for both caregivers and patients alike. Another example would be the use of medical devices to collect data on the user level, which can then be forwarded to healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, this innovation comes with its own downside: it is often criticised for increasing the distance between patient and caregiver. With this distance comes the risk of misdiagnosing or missing symptoms altogether. Rather ironic in a sense, as IoMT also helps patients in remote regions access healthcare personnel they might not have access to usually.
Medicine and augmented reality
AR is an interesting new addition to medicine. The technology integrates digitised information with the user’s environment in real time to help make decision-making easier for professionals. For example, the technology can be utilised to visualise surgical procedures in 3D, helping both doctors and patients take informed decisions about what treatment program would be in the patient’s best interest. However, the misrepresentation of this data, inadvertently or otherwise, could very well lead to even the loss of lives.
Blockchain-based EMRs
Blockchain-based electronic medical record-keeping is another avenue in which technological innovation stands to revolutionise the healthcare sector. The security, data privacy and the scalability of blockchain technology enables patients, professionals, and even healthcare and research institutions to share patient information securely. The technology also makes sharing data faster and compatible across multiple platforms. On the other hand, data that is networked in any way does stand the risk, however slight, of being corrupted or breached, which would be a large breach of the trust and privacy of patients.
The benefits of digital healthcare are many, of course. The integration of the digital with the medical means that it is easier to prevent disease, lowers healthcare costs, manage chronic conditions and conduct better research into medical conditions. However, the shift towards the digital in the health sector also brings with it its own set of problems. The digital health revolution brings with it a host of societal implications in addition to the technological.
Accessibility Issues
The digital space is an extremely standardised one, which brings with it a host of accessibility issues to those who use it. Unless supplemented with the necessary workarounds, the digitization of healthcare would alienate a group of people whose access is limited due to varied reasons. These reasons can include lack of resources, physical disability, user location and the like. For example, there are 2.2 billion people living with some degree of vision impairment in the world according to the WHO. Most can manage to lead normal lives despite this, and yet digital screens can be difficult to deal with for them.
The digital space also limits accessibility in the way the technology is developed. For example, most digital content is in the English language, making it immediately inaccessible for those unfamiliar with the language. The medical jargon and technical expressions can be difficult to understand to those who are not native speakers of the language. On the flip side, English speakers would enjoy a significant privilege in obtaining the healthcare they need.
There are of course ways in which issues such as these can be navigated around, such using simple, clear language, offering translated versions to users, utilising screen readers or text to speech, and developing easy-to-use UX elements.
Digital literacy is another accessibility issue that will be faced by many across the board. Lack of skill, experience and training will likely affect patients and healthcare professionals around.
A study conducted by the WHO on the European region alone about digital accessibility provides ample evidence about the threat of healthcare inequity created through digital health development. According to the study, prioritising digital health “may inadvertently widen existing inequities in health, if known inequalities in access, use and engagement with digital technology are not considered and addressed. The study also provides some direction which could help navigate the accessibility issues that the rapid revolutionization of healthcare brings.
According to the study, mapping inequities in digital infrastructure should be the first step of any program to introduce digital healthcare in any community. This should be followed with consistent follow ups to monitor the community’s engagement with the newly unfolding systems. The continued monitoring will help identify persisting barriers to access digital health. Clients, doctors, and other caregivers will need upskilling, an intervention that will require consistent programming to ensure that the community does not lose the necessary knowledge due to disuse. These interventions all require rigorous upkeep to ensure that the changes that are achieved are sustainable and organically developed onto the next user-generations.
Technology’s ability to revolutionise the industries they are implemented in is not a new phenomenon. The speed at which these changes take place create rifts in the accessibility between the privileged and not-so-privileged. While the incorporation of technology into healthcare has the potential to improve the quality of service and save lives, active efforts have to be taken to overcome the challenges that these same changes provoke. Given the situation, it will likely be a while before the advantages of the revolutionization of the healthcare system outweigh the challenges it poses.
(Theruni Liyanage)