Technology to Reshape Healthcare Services
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Technology to Reshape Healthcare Services

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Sofía Garduño By Sofía Garduño | Journalist & Industry Analyst - Wed, 02/15/2023 - 17:08

Virtual care services are reshaping expectations by allowing patients to solve their health problems from the comfort of their homes. This model is also improving communication with healthcare providers and increasing patient engagement in their own care. But for these technologies to continue benefiting the final customer, it is important to keep the patient involved in the development of new solutions. 

 

“New technologies are not going to replace doctors but they are going to displace those who do not use them,” says Fernando Castilleja, CEO, Genethic Services by Sohin

 

Telemedicine and online consultations help patients to save time, increase access to specialists and eliminate the need to travel. These tools have also increased accessibility to health services as they can surpass any geographical barrier. These services also allow for remote monitoring, which is essential for the proper treatment of some diseases. “Patients with chronic diseases like diabetes require constant checkups and our virtual assistant can help in this process. This bot can remind the patient of their next check-up,” Robert Parada, CEO, COCO Tecnologías, tells MBN

 

Although telemedicine can be useful to treat specific diseases, it is important to consider that not every patient needs the same treatment and that not all doctors offer a similar experience to each patient. “Doctors are not the same. The relation they can build with a particular patient can be different from the one they build with others,” says Castilleja. 

 

Although many opportunities are emerging, these technologies are also generating many challenges. In this age of interconnectivity, patients often arrive at the doctor with a self-diagnosis. They are also not approaching doctors to prevent diseases; they approach them when they present symptoms, explains Castilleja. Furthermore, cybersecurity threats demand that telemedicine is supported by platforms that protect sensitive information with encryption protocols that comply with the US's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which help to ensure that the data is protected.

 

To successfully implementing these solutions, it is necessary to ask for constant feedback from patients. This information will allow developers to guarantee that the technology and services fulfill patients’ needs and allow for the continuous improvement of virtual care. Feedback is essential to continue putting the patient at the center of every decision. “As long as each one of us as healthcare professionals and key players keeps the patient at the center of our decisions, we will be adding value to our society,” Oscar Ramos, Director of Operations and Patient Experience, TecSalud, tells MBN

 

Platforms must also take advantage of existing infrastructure to increase engagement with patients. “Digital tools can help us, not as the ultimate goal, but as a support tool,” says Castilleja. The goal is to have a system that can offer a personal follow up service to achieve patient-centered healthcare. 

 

Technologies can support health professionals to improve the attention they provide to patients. “An AI with the genomic information of the patient, capable of cross-referencing it with a database to recognize patterns, can assist in the treatment to avoid errors,” says Castilleja.

 

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