Leveraging technology in affordability of accessing health care- the roadblocks limiting technology

By Adeyinka Adenikinju

According to the WHO’s Global strategy on digital Health “Health systems and delivery of care across all countries have been challenged by the rise of noncommunicable diseases, shortage of the health workforce, aging population, unplanned emergencies, and infectious disease outbreaks”.

To paint a clearer picture of the situation as of 2020, “at least half the world’s population still lacks access to essential health services” (WHO and World bank). This concern resonated during our maiden twitter space as Genesys Health, where a listener asked a pertinent question; how can technology be used to create affordable access to health care for the populace who are below the living standard.

He seemed not to be the only one with this same question or objective, as the World Health Assembly (WHA) which met in Geneva in May 2019, while addressing the implementation of the health-related goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, focused singularly on how to make universal health coverage (UHC) a reality (Jong, 2019). Earlier that same year, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its draft Global Strategy on Digital Health, which puts digital health initiatives and greater use of technology and health information systems at the heart of achieving affordable and universal access to care.

It must be mentioned that though the WHA’s focus was on the role of the public sector in achieving this, it will take a combination of government bodies, NGOs or companies alone can solve the challenges that stand in the way of achieving universal health coverage.

Attempting to find a panacea to this question is the proposition that “achieving UHC by 2030 will only be possible if we create a collaborative ecosystem consisting of private sector and governments as a major part of the digital transformation”.

The potential use of digital technologies has been explored to address some of these challenges by several countries. After the first wave of initiatives on eHealth applications in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the need for a synergetic approach to the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) to health care delivery and patient care was identified as necessary (Jong, 2019). The aim was to integrate eHealth services to use resources more efficiently, avoid fragmentation, and facilitate information sharing for better and faster decision-making. This effort led to the creation of national and regional eHealth policies and strategies.

In response to countries´ emerging eHealth initiatives, organizations such as the WHO, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), adopted the role of disseminating knowledge, facilitating collaboration, sponsoring discussion forums, and developing tools and other guiding documents that would help policymakers and public servants (Jong, 2019).

Interoperability: Lowering administrative expenditure

Integrating health systems with the use of technology to create a unified system that now gives access to a combined the data from theadifferent health systems can help in quicker diagnosis and treatment, this has beneficial effects on caregivers enabling them to understand the exact needs of patients, share data between systems and the cloud, and drive efficient analysis that can lead to better and affordable patient care.

Smart Technology: Streamline claims processing

Another major contributor to skyrocketing healthcare costs is the insurance claims process – which is time-consuming and also labor-intensive – for stakeholders in the healthcare sector. The complexity in processing and managing claims, and slow response times which greatly affect patient experience are the culprits of rising costs in this case (Siddhartha., 2019).

Using smart technology like Hospital Management information systems can streamline claims processing, cut costs by a large margin, and significantly improve turnaround times. This technology automates the hospital processes; data collection and communication processes while proving the events that lead to a claim. The major outcome is reduced healthcare costs as well as a better customer experience. The automation of the processes allows both healthcare providers and insurances companies the possibility of further improving payment efficiency which then drives significant savings in overhead costs and repayment turnaround times. With the many benefits of technology and data in the health tech sector, governments a n d other stakeholders now have a higher chance of accelerating the deployment of connectivity and technology to deliver real impact and scale in their health systems.

Many of today’s doctors, and certainly the next generation of medical practitioners, will be working in the hospitals of the future. These hospitals will be built largely around technology, with Artificial Intelligence (AI), telehealth, and connected care being the norm, advanced automation and algorithms enhancing the efficiency of routine tasks will thus lead to an improved outcome of both the quality and affordability of care.

Maiden Edition Maiden Edition Healthcare wearables: Cutting down the need for specialists

Healthcare wearables have become a major part of our gadgets and a tool for caregivers, these tools now play an immensely positive impact on healthcare delivery, when you consider the cost of patients accessing care; the patients will be required to visit the health facility physically (logistics costs) and clearly articulate their condition (communication stress) doctors to diagnose symptoms and provide precise treatment (false vitals due to fear of the garment, additional cost for delayed testing where investigations are needed multiple times and logistic cost if the patient has to visit a different location for his or her test to be carried out).

The overuse of specialists for diagnosis and treatment and the ever-increasing doctor fees makes healthcare very expensive. Technology can be leveraged here using the wearables which can provide an array of benefits, they can automatically gather necessary information from patients, and send critical healthcare data to a unified system, which in turn allows doctors to get real-time alerts when conditions go beyond normal – thus drastically bringing costs down (Siddhartha., 2019). As earlier established a patient incurs more costs in a traditional healthcare setting which arises from patients’ travel costs in getting to the healthcare organization (commonly some patients have to travel to other countries to access specialized care) to get any kind of treatment. The cost incurred not only includes doctor fees, costs of treatment, lab fees, and medication costs, but also insurance costs and the cost of traveling – especially for patients living in remote areas (Siddhartha., 2019).

Smart technology like remote patient monitoring can be used to keep healthcare costs in check even as healthcare spending per person keeps increasing.

The advent of the Internet of Medical Things has brought accessibility and affordability to healthcare costs considering how primary telemedicine tools are becoming widespread. The use of advanced tools, allows healthcare to remotely monitor patients in real-time and adjust treatment plans accordingly –thereby eliminating travel costs, hospital room expenses, and exorbitant doctor fees (Siddhartha., 2019).

GNS/22/02/000001 GNS/22/02/000001 Remote patient monitoring: Eliminating hospital room expenses