ARTICLES
The Road to Efficient, Quality Patient-Centric Care
T
he COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things, including the perception of healthcare among business executives. Prior to the pandemic, GE’s biennial survey on global innovation found that IT, high-tech and the internet were seen as the most innovative sectors. But in the wake of the pandemic and given the response by government ministries, private healthcare providers and others, the healthcare industry came out as the top innovator in the 2020 edition of GE’s Global Innovation Barometer. That’s no surprise for Naël Dabbagh, General Manager for the Middle East, North East Africa, Turkey and Central Asia at GE Healthcare. Long before the pandemic struck, his vocabulary was full of terms like big data, predictive analytics, and automated, cross-network data-sharing. That’s because pre-pandemic, the healthcare industry was already beginning to explore the world of precision health, an approach that helps clinicians and healthcare systems deliver a highly personalized approach to both patient wellness and treatment of illness. That makes it possible not only to deliver higher-quality patient-centric care, but to do so in a more efficient, timely and cost-effective manner. Precision health combines big data analysis of millions of anonymized patient medical records with each specific patient’s genetic makeup, health history, family medical history and lifestyle choices to deliver the diagnostics, treatment and monitoring required to deliver precisely the right care at the right time to each patient. “Covid-19 really accelerated the adoption of predictive and preventative healthcare technology,” he explains. “What would have previously taken the industry years to implement is now taking months.”
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Data delivers health The recent launch of Edison Health Services offers a good example. This platform provides an open, extendable, modern architecture for the development and deployment of AI-based digital applications in healthcare. All types of clinical, operational, and financial applications can easily be developed using these tools and securely accessed and hosted, whether in the cloud, on premises (e.g. via GE Healthcare’s Edison HealthLink appliance), or directly onto smart imaging devices like x-rays, CTs and ultrasound machines. The potential scope for enhanced patient outcomes and operational improvements are huge, Dabbagh explains, given that the volume of medical data being generated is exploding.
TO BEGIN UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF PRECISION CARE, DABBAGH SAYS, NEW AI-BASED TOOLS ARE NEEDED TO AGGREGATE, STANDARDIZE, AND QUICKLY MAKE SENSE OF THIS INFORMATION.
