Virtual speakers during the Quality Management Conference at Arab Health came together on Thursday to offer final thoughts following a day of talks on digital innovation.
According to Prof Paul Barach, Clinical Professor, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, while big data is an “incredible way” to understand population health and realise the “Quadruple Aim”, many companies haven’t approached this with the best transparency or engagement with patients and providers. He cautioned that questions remain over how it might work - and whether it might exposure patient privacy or bring hospitals “to their knees” through hacking. This can only be adequately examined through a framework of a public-private partnership, that engages ethicists, scientists, and users in a way that supports their journey of wellness.
Melania Endicott, Senior Director of International Education & Training for AHIMA, stressed the importance of having good quality health information, a need that requires trained staff educated in documentation best practices, how to maintain records and how to ensure the accuracy of data going into records, that is also accessible by the right people at the right time.
Virtual health needs to be viewed as part of the continuum of care, emphasised Katerina Tarasova, Executive Director of International Accreditation at Accreditation Canada, and attention needs to be paid to patient-centric care. Integrated care is an important factor when looking at all the components and how the system is reacting to new developments in virtual health.
Richard Wyatt-Haines, founder and director of HCI, highlighted how no technology can be deployed without people – and that they need to be clear about goals, set by leadership, with the commitment to making it happen. Only by bringing a group together comprising operation managers, clinicians and patients - to ensure they are engaged - can all components come together to ensure success.