In many ways, you can judge the state of a civilization by the condition of its health care. A country’s ability to run or support an effective health care system, whether public or private, reflects not only on its technology, but its ability to provide a good quality of life for its citizens. However, as populations swell, the pressure on health care systems increases. Fortunately, technology is also developing quickly, and with it, Cerner has found a way to re-invent its approach to health care.
In an interview with Endeavour Middle East Magazine, I discussed the cutting-edge solutions we provide that, when applied in combination, paint an entirely new picture of health care.
Wherever there’s paper, we try to eliminate it. In doing so, we create secondary benefits. The information is digitized, and systems can then analyze a patient’s status to help clinicians make the most informed decisions for their patients. For instance, if you need a hip replacement and the doctor wants to prescribe a medication, but the system may be able to recommend a different medication based on your health data.
This level of automated information and intervention, without overriding human decisions, enables clinicians to focus on patient care. At the very least, it may help prevent instances of human error.
The application of this software is not limited to hospitals and GP offices; it can be used anywhere that patient care takes place, including school clinics, laboratories and patient’s homes. However, while the automated secondary benefits of this system are useful, they are not the most advanced of Cerner’s innovations. Cerner HealtheIntentSM, a population health management platform, takes modern possibilities further, with potentially industry-changing results. For example, in a hospital or clinic setting, you give your doctor information that is logged into your electronic health record. But let’s say that you go home, and you’re on your scale, or perhaps you’re diabetic and you take a glucose reading: where does that information go? Currently, such data is lost, trapped in an “information silo.” You want it to go to the same place – your health record.
Enter HealtheIntent. This platform collects and collates medical data from a range of sources. Instead of being limited to what is entered within hospitals and clinics, this system can take data from smart watches, electronic scales, diet apps and any other system that monitors our health. This could provide clinicians with a more accurate, well-rounded assessment of a patient’s health, which may speed up diagnostics, improve accuracy and enable them to provide the best possible care. That’s the second fallacy that current medicine has, I think. Clinicians are being asked to provide care based on 3 to 4 percent of the information about that particular patient.
To collect this data, Cerner works with the consumer, who can opt to supply the data. However, I believe it will take a 5- to 10-year shift before this vision is in full effect. In the meantime, the company’s best clients for this system are governments and ministries of health.
Click here to read the full interview article!
View the July 2018 issue of Endeavour Middle East Magazine here.
