It goes without saying that technology is seeping into every aspect of our lives. This was a theme that Philips found to be true even when it comes to the medical field. In fact, technology is becoming so ubiquitous that the Future Health Index (FHI) has indicated that in a broad sense, the field of medicine simply isn’t ready. Their yearly survey of younger medical professionals had very interesting findings this round given that it was commissioned in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Younger Doctors Want Technology – It is the Key to value-based healthcare

In its fifth year, the Future Health Index found, among other things, that younger doctors are open to adopting technologies to assist in the mundane, repetitive tasks of medicine. In fact, nearly one in three doctors saw benefits in adopting technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and telehealth in the day to day functions of medicine. 76% of doctors also cited that the adoption of technologies was able to help with decreasing the stresses of medical practice – one of the main worries with frontliners in the current pandemic.

However, the findings of Philip’s FHI show that key competencies which are key to a digital healthcare system are lacking in basic medical training – of interest is the lack of data competencies among younger medical professionals. In the FHI, about 47% of respondents found that they were left in the lurches when it came to key data competencies. Skillsets such as data analysis and interpretation were among the skills that were cited. Another notable competency when it came to data, was the management of data privacy, one of the current growing concerns of society.

These particular findings highlight a robust issue that should be tackled in academia as well as with continuing medical education. Only 54% of doctors in Asia Pacific reported receiving training to address the legislative issues pertaining to data privacy while only 51% were receiving training in handling data.

These competencies are key in the current shift towards value-based healthcare. A healthcare model that measures patient outcomes as a key factor in determining the value of healthcare. While there is a good awareness of the term in the Asia Pacific region (82%), drilling further found that an alarming 4% knew what it was entirely. The majority of doctors surveyed only knew it by name.

While that may be a concern, the integration of technology into everyday healthcare and patient care is key in a value-based system. Only when doctors can access, interpret and analyse the data coming from adopted technologies, can they truly access the quality of healthcare. Key appreciations of technology in reducing their mundane workloads need to be more pervasive.

Technology in Improving Healthcare

Technology plays a vital role in creating a more efficient and effective standard of health. In their FHI, Philips found that a majority of younger doctors are advocates of adopting newer technologies. They see value in adopting the right technologies in creating a better standard of care.

However, in countries like Malaysia, these doctors are facing issues even with the simplest issue of automation of administrative tasks. That said, medical practice is being revolutionised by technologies that were once farfetched are becoming a reality. As the issue of personalised healthcare comes to the forefront, we have an increasing amount of doctors across the Asia Pacific region who see the benefits of having Artificial intelligence applied in the field. 74% surveyed opportunities to offer more personalised care while 79% believed that AI would help with more accurate diagnoses.

That said, for AI to be effective, data needs to be made readily available. Nevertheless, the medical industry faces a data conundrum – should more effective and personalized healthcare come at the expense of data privacy? That said, the conundrum is addressed by anonymizing patient data to allow ready access. However, with the multiple data silos created by multiple software platforms, doctors are strained to have any actionable insights.

Interoperability is becoming a hurdle as hospitals and even clinics begin adopting new technologies that are not speaking to each other. This lack of interoperability creates data silos which doctors have to manually import and analyse. With a more cohesive digital architecture, doctors will be able to access a more holistic view of patient data and outcomes; and with the state of AI and machine learning now, they will be able to get even more insights to tough cases.

Technology isn’t just for the betterment of patient care, the FHI has also found that younger doctors report being less stressed at work when technologies are adopted effectively. The psychological benefits of reduced stress on the doctors will undoubtedly benefit patient care in the long run.

Looking to the Future & What the Medical Field can Learn from the Digitisation of Other Industries

Younger doctors are the key to the field of medicine progressing into the future. When it comes to their willingness to learn, it comes as no surprise that these doctors are spearheading the charge to adopt and learn new skills to remedy the skills gap that is emerging. However, it now falls to academia to address the needs in the nascent class of doctors emerging from their institutions into a field of medical practice that is both familiar and different.

What remains is for the medical industry to look to others who have a head start in dealing with the issues they are facing now. New technologies being adopted such as Kubernetes and the cloud could see the medical industry getting a quantum leap when it comes to patient care and medical breakthroughs.

There is no better proof of the benefits of adopting the right technology than the state of vaccines for COVID-19. In a matter of months, multiple vaccine candidates have been developed. Some candidates such as the mRNA vaccine are revolutionary approaches which were made possible with the augmentation of human ingenuity with the insights derived from machine learning and AI.

In addition to technologies, their adoption needs a fundamental change in attitudes and values in the industry as well. Younger Doctors are already aware of these attitudes with an increasing number looking to autonomy in their practices. They also look to workspaces which are collaborative and have access to the latest medical equipment. However, more importantly, they look to a culture that supports work-life balance.

As with any industry, a majority of the attitudes will need a top-down approach; spearheaded by veteran doctors and administrators in hospitals and practices. It goes without saying that the agility needed to adapt and adopt new technologies and approaches must be spearheaded by leadership. They will also need to look into empowering younger doctors to be bold in their approaches and use of new technologies.