Can’t read your GP’s notes? Don’t worry, the AI can
Paid Feature Doctors have been debating whether medicine is a science or art since Hippocrates coined the phrase “first do no harm”, two and a half millennia ago. At least they have until recently. Not because the issue has been solved, but because healthcare systems are under tremendous pressure worldwide, clinicians are working flat out, and they and their patients are paying the price. They simply don’t have the time. So, to understand whether technology can help healthcare, we need to understand there are three key pressures on healthcare – all of which predate the Covid-19 pandemic. First, there is a simple labour shortage in the medical field – four years ago, the World Health Organisations predicted the global shortfall of medical staff would reach 15 million people by 2030. This isn’t just doctors. It’s nurses, technicians, radiographers and all the other professionals needed to keep us healthy. Which raises the question, Andy Nieto, global healthcare solutions manager at Lenovo, says: “How do you distribute and extend your care without just working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and then burning out? That’s a huge pressure.” Secondly, says Nieto, “we have this glut of age and behaviour related diseases and illnesses.” Aging is unavoidable of course, but its effects are compounded by behaviour related diseases in a “general population that is less focused on personal wellness and personal health.” What a type 2 diabetic says they are doing to manage their condition, and what a finger prick blood test shows they are actually doing may be quite different. Remote Patient monitoring (RPM) with regular biometric updates gives a more accurate view of the patient’s true status and provides a more timely and more effective clinical response. The result, says Nieto, is “catastrophic and extremely expensive care demands.” In the US, for example, up to 80 per cent of national health expenditure relates to chronic conditions and mental health. The third factor is the evolution of patients as consumers. Of course, this can mean more engaged patients, which can be a good thing. But it also means trained medics are forced to compete with Doctor Google. This can then influence the care and treatment patients expect, as opposed to what they need. All of these were issues before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the last year and a half has highlighted and exacerbated their impact, whether it’s the acute burnout of medical staff, pressure on medical infrastructure, or patients who are noncompliant with treatment plans or know better than their physicians. Yet the pandemic has also highlighted some of the ways smarter healthcare technology can potentially ease the burden on both over-stretched clinicians and society more broadly. One of the most obvious effects at a societal level has been a rethinking of the role that technology plays in personal and professional communication. “This transition… has really opened the window for virtual health, beyond just point solutions to be much more around a true avenue of care delivery,” Nieto explains.
