Integrating technology within care
In the first half of the year 2020, the world as we knew at the time as well as our lifestyles changed.
The rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus across the world has caused governments to impose lockdowns, adopt new laws and provide the public with guidance exemplifying how good and safe practice should look like. Life as we previously knew it had been disrupted. Every single person was required to try and adopt new behaviours in order to adapt to the new rules and regulations imposed by the government due to the pandemic. This point also applied to businesses and companies as well, as they needed to change certain processes in order to allow their functioning in accordance with the new rules and regulations.
The need to transform certain processes for adaptation purposes expanded across multiple industries, as technology was seen as the means to enable this transformation to take place. Amongst all the industries which needed to undergo this transformation, the health and care industry, arguably needed it the most and the fastest. From a rising number of covid patients being hospitalized and a limited number of beds being available, to the high and easy transmissibility nature of the virus, these factors determined the treatments of the majority of other medical problems, not associated with Covid-19, to be put on hold. Furthermore, it also called for the implementation of adequate processes in order to ensure the safe functioning of the health and care industries.
Aware of the complicated nature of the situation, the digitalization of certain medical processes, which was long been put on hold according to industry insiders, had all of the sudden happened. Just as sudden, several benefits emerged from the greater use of technology within the medical industry. From increased efficiency or time saving all the way to remote monitoring of patients being cared for, people were getting a glimpse of the immense potential technology has towards enhancing our care system. The many benefits of a greater integration of technology within healthcare has accelerated discussions surrounding the transformation of many medical processes, with some even claiming their disruption.
This series of articles aims to focus on analysing this conversation for digitalization from multiple perspectives. Across a total of seven chapters, this series looks to highlight the different arguments for a greater digitalization of the healthcare industry, both from medical bodies as well as from technology or care providers. From the current landscape of the healthcare industry all the way to the determinants of technology acceptance, all the chapters of these series will look to paint the picture of how technology could enhance our medical services and what would it take for it to be accented. Finally, there is no argument against a greater digitalization within the medical and care industries, the only question however is: how much?
