The Government needs to step up its digital dream for the NHS or face being left behind with patients more connected than medical staff.
This is the view of Kaushik Banerjee, head of digital transformation solutions at HARMAN Connected Services in Europe, a company that develops technologies to improve patient care.
Speaking to BBH, he said: “It has come to a point where patients are more connected than hospitals and doctors, and I feel we are missing a trick.
“If you look at the whole ecosystem which forms the healthcare remit, there’s obviously great value in utilising systems and solutions.
The way the NHS goes about deploying technology is very myopic. Rather than look at how software can change the way they work for the better, they look at where it can plug gaps
“ In places like the US they are already doing this well. In the UK there is a lot of innovation, but we are very slow at adopting new technology.”
HARMAN has a range of solutions that could help to improve health and wellbeing or enhance administration services to speed up back-office functions.
One area the company has developed products in is the Internet of Things (IoT). Using IoT solutions installed in hand hygiene devices they can capture individual staff interactions with hand sanitisers, enabling healthcare providers to reduce the risk of a healthcare associated infection outbreak.
Another solution developed in conjunction with HelpMeSee - a global campaign to end cataract blindness - delivers simulation-based training management to support the delivery of the standardised manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) training programme. This software solution enables life-changing training to be accessed around the world.
And, to address the missing link between patient data and electronic medical records (EMR), HARMAN has developed a software plug-in that connects to various data banks across a network. This groups all related patient data together, facilitating a much-more-complete, 360-degree view of a patient’s record and enhancing care as a result.
These are just a few examples of how connected care can help within the healthcare market.
In places like the US they are already doing this well. In the UK there is a lot of innovation, but we are very slow at adopting new technology
Banerjee said: “I speak to a lot of companies in this market and what they all feel is that there is a lot of innovation happening, but there needs to be a much greater push from the Government on how it is going to adopt this technology and roll it out.”
“Until this point, adoption of innovative systems is often done piecemeal and on the cheap and then the NHS is open to ransom attacks, such as we have seen recently.
“The way the NHS goes about deploying technology is very myopic. Rather than look at how software can change the way they work for the better, they look at where it can plug gaps.”
“Connected healthcare systems can change the way we deliver healthcare for the better, but we need to redefine current processes to make adoption easier.”