Health & Care Transformation
Management Institute
Joaquim Cardoso MSc*
Chief Strategy Officer, Researcher and Editor
November 9, 2022
*MSc from London Business School — MIT Sloan Masters Program
Future diagnostics: delivering healthcare digitally
Financial Times
Partner content: Siemens Healthineers
Accessed on November, 2022
The strain placed on healthcare systems by the pandemic has been immense, but this disruption has brought with it an opportunity to further accelerate the digital transformation of healthcare.
Historically, healthcare organisations have been slow to implement digital technologies and leverage data.
Typical reasons include concern about increased admin, a shortage of funding and knowhow, and a lack of interoperability between dated IT systems. However, digital technologies can be a cost-effective and efficient way to support an overburdened health care service without compromising the quality of care.
“Digital transformation can help clinicians work smarter, improve clinical workflows, and enable hospitals and GPs to meet increasing demand more effectively,” says Samrina Bhatti, Manager in the Centre for Health Solutions at Deloitte.
“However, our research has demonstrated that for the successful adoption of a digital health tool, it’s crucial to show improved outcomes, cost-effectiveness and value for money.
A clear business case needs to be presented for the use of the technology, demonstrating the cost benefits.”
“Digital transformation can help clinicians work smarter, improve clinical workflows, and enable hospitals and GPs to meet increasing demand more effectively,” …“However, … for the successful adoption of a digital health tool, it’s crucial to show improved outcomes, cost-effectiveness and value for money.
A clear business case needs to be presented for the use of the technology, demonstrating the cost benefits.”
A report published in January of this year led by Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation revealed that the quality and delivery of care during the pandemic had been improved by the use of technology.
More than 2,200 healthcare workers in six countries were surveyed with around two-thirds agreeing that digital solutions had led to better outcomes for patients and improved quality and access to care and increased staff productivity.
Collaboration tools have been among the easiest to implement.
Last year global technology company TeamViewer made its remote assistance app TeamViewer Pilot free to healthcare organisations around the world.
This meant staff could share interactive video streaming and augmented reality (AR) annotations to solve problems fast when they were working at disparate locations.
“We felt a remote solution like Pilot was something we could contribute to help deal with the global pandemic when there was both pressure on staff and restrictions on movement,” says Lukas Baur, EVP Solution Sales at TeamViewer, “Given the ease and convenience of deployment and usage we had organisations of all sizes around the world taking up the offer.”
Remote interoperability is also driving opportunities in telemedicine and monitoring.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) offers numerous benefits for patients who are elderly or who have chronic illnesses and who find it difficult to travel to appointments.
It also simplifies communications, enables the use of sensors and the exchange of data.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) is already unlocking medical secrets, improving diagnosis, and providing support in the shape of medical chatbots.
Allied to data it has the ability to streamline workflows and improve preventative outcomes.
AR is also making inroads in the shape of wearables and remote surgery.
Two years ago, China’s Shanghai Fustech used TeamViewer’s remote connectivity technology to complete a focused ultrasound surgery remotely through a 5G network.
The doctor controlled surgical equipment and operated on the patient who was located 30 kilometres away with no time delay.
TeamViewer is currently extending its partnership with Siemens Healthineers to create a new service that makes it possible to remotely operate the company’s MRI scanners, regardless of where they are stationed.
“Both use cases are examples of how our technology is both improving existing services and enabling new kinds of business models,” says Baur.
“If health organisations lack qualified radiology staff, say in rural areas, they can simply seek access to a pool of skilled Siemens Healthineers’ remote imaging operators.”
Increased use of technology brings its own challenges, not least in areas such as security and IT support, which are necessary to support mission-critical services as they become more prevalent across industries.
Here, TeamViewer takes a finely tuned approach to meeting the complex compliance specifications of the industry.
“For good reason, the health sector has a very high bar regarding data protection and cyber security, and we’re proud to be compliant with a variety of international standards and requirements,” says Baur.
“Besides providing a strong and secure backbone and infrastructure, our Conditional Access feature enables rule-based and very granular access management and helps achieve the degree of security that’s vital in the healthcare industry.”
TeamViewer continues to expand its reach and demonstrate the potential applications for its tools.
It recently embarked on a partnership with a North West London Clinical Commissioning Group to manage IT issues across multiple locations and to improve the reliability and security of the systems there.
At Argentina’s National University of San Juan, TeamViewer is involved in a telemedicine project demonstrating how simply it can bridge distances.
The company’s remote communication options are being used to hold not only virtual consultations with medical staff in local villages, but also to perform electrocardiograms, tele-auscultation, tele-oximetry and remote Holter monitoring.
“With some basic training these techniques are easily transferable to any other region in the world and hence potentially valuable,” says Baur. “They show again how versatile TeamViewer solutions can be when applied in the health care sector.”
The potential for greater efficiencies and improved outcomes suggests that digital technology is poised to have a big impact and that can only be a good thing for teams delivering care and their patients.
The potential for greater efficiencies and improved outcomes suggests that digital technology is poised to have a big impact and that can only be a good thing for teams delivering care and their patients.
Originally published at https://digitaltransformation.ft.com.
Names mentioned:
Lukas Baur, EVP Solution Sales at TeamViewer,
China’s Shanghai Fustech
National University of San Juan, Argentina
