Digitalization and health - Why digitalization is an important step for health and care

Introduction

The topic of "digitalization and health" is playing an increasingly important role in all our lives. On the one hand, our society is aging rapidly, and consequently, long-term healthcare is becoming increasingly expensive. Digitalizing the system can make certain services more affordable while simultaneously improving quality. According to a recent McKinsey study, up to €4.7 billion per year could be freed up in Austria's healthcare system through the use of digital technologies. This would correspond to approximately 14 percent of the total annual healthcare and care costs, which most recently amounted to €35 billion. There are various levers and approaches for creating effective (digital) mechanisms.

In the following paragraphs, I would like to give you a brief insight into the possible future.

How do patients benefit?

Dementia, stroke, and other illnesses all have one thing in common: early diagnosis is the foundation for successful treatment. Various companies, especially startups, are taking this problem to heart and are trying to support the healthcare system with innovative methods and potentially detect early warning signs. As a patient, you benefit from the time saved, as diagnosis, especially in neurological cases, is often difficult.

The aim is to use collected data to detect sudden changes and raise an alarm. Due to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data collection is often a challenge for young companies; however, they are working on systems that process the data anonymously. Sleep patterns, in particular, can provide many clues to a wide range of potential illnesses.

The State Saves Money

As the recent McKinsey study demonstrates, the state also has the potential to save money and costs and to use these freed-up resources effectively. Digitalization could be used in a wide variety of areas to minimize costs. In addition to automation and data processing, the area of ​​online interactions is particularly interesting for savings, as this is where the greatest potential lies.

Online interactions include consultations, remote monitoring of chronically ill patients, and the digital advance management of patient flows. Besides consultations, the area we all know as "paperwork" is another sector where improvements could be made and money saved. Often, one gets the feeling that digitalization is passing the healthcare sector by. Files upon files and paperwork as far as the eye can see—but why? These days, it should be possible to store a lot of data online and thus make it more easily accessible to other doctors and hospitals. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) should also not be an obstacle here, as there are plenty of experts available for such issues today. The ELGA (electronic health record) also demonstrates that it would already be possible to switch to digital.

Education through Digitalization

Various educational institutions are already thinking about the future. For students at the IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems, training with state-of-the-art technologies is part of everyday life. Seven workstations equipped with VR (Virtual Reality) headsets are designed to give students a better understanding of their bodies. Software allows them to virtually sit inside a heart and many other body regions, experiencing the body as closely as possible. Various options also allow for the simulation of illnesses or the visualization of stent placement. These possibilities primarily lead to better understanding through visualization and thus to more efficient learning.

These points gave us a glimpse into the possibilities of digitalization in the healthcare industry and should make us consider the advantages it offers. This opportunity should not be missed, as virtually all sectors can benefit.