Healthcare delivered on the wheels of technology

LAST WEEK in my article (“Making healthcare service delivery uncomfortable, less conventional”), I pointed out the fact that Rwanda could do with a fresh approach to our healthcare service delivery model. Anyone who read that article must have automatically recognized technology as the linchpin and key enabler of such an ambitious model. Technology is a driver for increased efficiency in healthcare delivery – improving the quality of care and significantly driving down costs; it is invaluable for wellness monitoring, early diagnosis and targeted treatment; management of drug prescription; awareness information dissemination; as well as the treatment of long-term illnesses whereby patients can be monitored remotely, and thus reducing pressure on our limited hospitals. Personalized medical care with the aid of technology puts the shift in the winds from treating disease to disease prevention and wellness – a point I stressed last week. In response to an article I wrote on hospital management in 2012, a reader informed me that some of our hospitals had set up electronic medical record (EMR) and hospital information management systems, as well as policies to transform delivery with technology. That is only one piece of the puzzle. A mature healthcare technology ecosystem should go one step further and deal away with the fragmentation in hospital services today, and take advantage of consumer personal devices, to create a well-rounded, interconnected national health system. This system would bolster integration of data – patient data such as diagnostics and monitoring, disease trends and pharmaceutical services – that, if properly utilized and analyzed, could radically change healthcare service delivery. Who is best suited to make this ecosystem a reality? In my opinion it is the Telecom operators. In strong partnership with local industry players and the budding mobile development community, they are best positioned to reinvent healthcare in Rwanda. The shifts and trends in Rwanda make it seem obvious: given the exploding mobile market and the rollout of a nationwide high-speed network, a healthcare strategy with a sound business model could present enormous benefits for telecom players, healthcare providers, insurers and patients alike. The days of offering only cellular services are over. Leveraging cloud platforms and tele-health services, operators could facilitate healthcare integration and interoperability, extend the reach of healthcare to remote areas and partner with suitable companies to appropriately collect data and perform analytics that would inform decision-making processes. I get excited just thinking about it! An elementary example: a consumer could be offered a package with consumer-centric mHealth applications, remote monitoring and efficient emergency response systems which would be linked to the enterprise mobility solutions that operators would offer to providers. A joint pilot venture between a telecom provider, a teaching hospital and a few kLab mobile startups is one viable avenue to test a health management ecosystem of this nature. If you want to savor healthy colorful competition, add one health insurer to the recipe! Healthcare delivery in developed countries is increasing riding the waves of telecom technology.In the US, telecom operator AT&T is reinventing the healthcare market by using their network to capitalize on the growing Internet of things;in the same spirit, vendors like Samsung are designing wearable devices that connect to mobile phones (like gear fit and the Samsung S5). These companies are leading the curve with the unequivocal realization that going forward, the king will be whoever has access to, or the means to collect, the most data. Our realities are vastly different, but only in how complex we choose to address the matter, for in fact the model that leverages technology holds true here as anywhere else. Like I mentioned last week, our population is growing, and living longer. Our healthcare industry needs to reinvent itself to handle consumer needs efficiently and with quality results. But even a picture this rosy comes with thorns. One particular thorn is data privacy and security, but given where we are now – fortunately or unfortunately – we can bide our time pushing forsufficient and rigorous regulatory preparation. Have a great weekend folks! Twitter: @rwandalavender

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Healthcare delivered on the wheels of technology