Christian Marolt, Secretary General and Editor-in-Chief, European Association of Healthcare IT Managers
With about a month to go before we congregate in Vienna for ECR 2013, we invited Christian Marolt, Secretary General and Editor-in-Chief of the European Association of Healthcare IT Managers, to write for us about healthcare in a changing world.
The European Association of Healthcare IT Managers is the largest interest representation for CIOs and IT Managers in Europe.
Is it always about the patient or is technology sometimes one step ahead? With the growth of patient choice and patient power on the one side, and huge advances in technology on the other, it is sometimes hard to know what are the key drivers in healthcare today.
What is clear is that many countries are facing cuts in healthcare budgets as governments tackle recession and low growth. How can technology enable the sometimes conflicting demands of more patient contact and higher visibility for the radiologist while coping with the demands of productivity and cost-effectiveness?
Management of Technologies within Healthcare Organisations
Excellent management would be an option. But as there are still key jobs filled not upon skill-set but political affiliation this might not always work. What else? Vendors in radiology have adapted to these times. Upgrades to existing installations are easily available, and interoperability is almost a given. At least “Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise” (IHE) is trying very hard to achieve this goal. Vendor-neutral applications are being further developed. Along with a nod to economic hard times and increasing competition from Asia (in particular China), vendors are also acknowledging the focus on increasing user friendliness and lowering radiation doses. Dose measurement software is rapidly evolving, as both radiologists and patients want to minimise radiation exposure.
Empowering Patients with Access to Medical Information
Patient access to images and medical records is a great development for patient empowerment. However, many countries have a rapidly aging population. We cannot generalise about who uses what technology, however the over-50s are the fastest growing demographic for Facebook. It is necessary to respect what media the patient is comfortable with and that alternative formats are available to meet different needs.
Accessible options make things easier for all of us, but sometimes not. It’s often asked, “Why can’t we get the levels of service from imaging that we get from airlines?” Being able to book yourself the time you want for your imaging exam at the facility most convenient to you should be possible. Patients expect access from their smartphones and tablets, they want to go to punctual appointments, and they are right in making these demands. Here we could once again learn an important lesson from the airline industry, thus compensating patients waiting for an unacceptable time period. I am sure that this would speed up efficiency swiftly. Making money by going to the doctor? Fab!
Medical imaging advancements are vital but still have a long way to go.
Medical imaging was pronounced by the New England Journal of Medicine as one of the “eleven developments that has changed the face of clinical medicine” during the last millennium. A decade on, and the statement still holds true. For example, PET/MR is an exciting new technology that is still evolving. While the technology offers advantages, adoption has been quite slow so far. Clinical studies are continuing to assess its benefit. What is clear is its application for oncologic imaging, with the benefit of low levels of radiation.
What else? Intelligent image searching is another area that is evolving rapidly. Being able to match and retrieve images is vital for assisting in computer-aided diagnosis, and in education and training. Linking radiology with pathology will be another mega trend; cross-departmental understanding and retuning from micro-medicine to a holistic view will help.
Often consumer adoption of a technology flows into the healthcare setting. Mobile, especially smartphones and tablets, is becoming increasingly popular, hence the devices will change along with the healthcare world. Health systems are now looking at their applications in radiology while keeping concerns about data privacy and protection in mind. Good old data privacy—too often misused as an excuse for people failing to deliver. Empowering patients has to go together with one’s own decision on how to treat personal health data.
Health and safety in healthcare settings tends to concentrate on infection control, and the risk of trips and falls. While this is important, with the many hours healthcare staff spend using computer technology, more thought should be given to the design and ergonomics of radiology equipment. To pile on, the future in hospital is wireless (during RSNA there was the world’s first wireless ultrasound scanner presented), and this is sure to bring even more issues to think about in the future.
The contribution is the personal opinion of the author and is not the opinion of HITM or Carestream.
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