The traditional healthcare system was already showing signs of exhaustion before the pandemic, and this crisis has only accelerated the digitalization process that our system has needed for years.
Although it is true that both the health emergency situation and the technological boom that the sector has experienced in the last year and a half can still be overwhelming. What is really important is the step that has been taken to solve 3 challenges that healthcare faces, and even more so in the wake of the pandemic.
The three main obstacles are waiting lists, the burnout of medical professionals, and, consequently, the satisfaction of patients with the care received.
#1st healthcare challenge: Waiting lists
It is clear that COVID-19 has pushed waiting lists to alarming levels. However, these were already a handicap to optimal and efficient healthcare before 2020.
Patients on the waiting list not only see the quality of their healthcare reduced, but this situation can even lead to a worsening of their health in the medium and long term.
More information on waiting lists
#2nd health challenge: Health professional burnout
The exhaustion of healthcare professionals is real, it was real before COVID-19, and it has reached the extreme today. In fact, according to the Spanish company Mutual Médica: ‘sick leave records in Spain among medical professionals increased by 180 percent in 2020 during the worst months of the pandemic compared to the same period the previous year’.
A reality that is difficult to combine with the current emergency situation, an aging population with greater healthcare needs, increased concern for patient safety, and the quality of care received.
#3rd health challenge: Patient satisfaction with healthcare
The third health challenge arises precisely from a combination of the first two: how can the health system ensure that the population has a good perception of health care if doctors are exhausted, often overstretched, and there are insufficient resources to care for them?
The solution to address these challenges is within reach: Improving data and processes in real-time with digital health transformation
The first step in being able to address a complex situation is to gain a deep understanding of the scale of the problem through accurate and timely data. The more accurate the data, the more and better decisions healthcare institutions can make and therefore positively impact patient flow, patient satisfaction and enhance key healthcare objectives.
Only with accurate real-time data and information will a hospital be able to reduce its waiting times at different stages of patient flow, optimize resources and staff and therefore deliver the best possible quality of care.
However, data also presents its own barriers.
– To be able to access the information when it is needed within the huge amount of data that a hospital collects.
– To have the data entered correctly in real-time.
– To have it available in a form in which it is easy to make decisions. The data itself is not enough, it is necessary to be able to visualize it in a cohesive and coherent way.
What if a technological solution could eliminate these challenges, provide information and data in real-time so that each hospital could see its processes and be able to analyze them effectively?
This is precisely where an IoT-RTLS solution like ORvital plays a key role. An intelligent, multipurpose system that not only provides real-time data on patients and resources but is also capable of orchestrating and automating tasks, eliminating downtime in resources, efficiently organizing surgical scheduling, and even providing real-time information to family members.
