Embracing a digital healthcare landscape by being data-ready
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the virtualisation of healthcare: from doctors’ appointments to wearable monitors, the virus has forced previously in-person services to become digital. In the Middle East, telemedicine and remote consultations have taken off substantially in some countries – in the UAE alone, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company has conducted 450 000 teleconsultations since the launch of its virtual outpatient clinic in April 2020.
Along with the ever-growing capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as chatbots and real-time data analytics like medical imaging, the volume of healthcare data on the cloud is getting substantially bigger too: global healthcare data is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 36 percent through to 2025 (the fastest of all sectors, ahead of manufacturing, financial services, and media and entertainment). Healthcare is fast becoming digital and data-driven, and medical SMBs in MEA will need to keep up with the pace by being data-ready, first and foremost.
The health practice of the future will have data at its core
AI-powered technology that leverages the intelligent cloud will enable healthcare professionals to spend more time with patients, and less time on repetitive tasks such as administration. And younger healthcare workers know this: according to the global Future Health Index 2020 survey, 81 percent of healthcare professionals under the age of 40 believe that technology such as AI is able to reduce their workload, and 71 percent agree that AI will give them the tools needed for more accurate diagnoses.
Through real-time data collection, AI’s diagnoses and disease monitoring capabilities have the potential to completely change how healthcare is accessed and delivered – and the Middle East could lead the way. According to a PwC survey, despite healthcare workforce shortages and capacity constraints, trust in technology in the region is high: two-thirds of Middle East respondents were willing to replace doctors with AI and robots. A population that trusts AI, combined with healthcare workforce shortages, means that the Middle East could take certainly advantage of healthcare that’s data-driven, and become a leader in the way it’s done.
However, I believe that before medical SMBs in the region can begin to harness the power of AI, they will need to understand what role data plays in the health practice of the future, particularly when it comes to managing and protecting data, as well as analysing and storing it.
A disconnect between what data can do, versus what is being done
While the Future of Health Index study found that younger healthcare professionals view technology like AI in a favourable light, it also found that 35 percent said they were overwhelmed by digital patient data, and that they didn’t know how to use it to inform patient care. The IDC also found that more than 40 percent of healthcare organisations still struggle to hire employees with much-needed data skill sets.
This shows that there is a day-to-day disconnect between what data can do, versus what is being done with it, and that foundational data analysis training – such as the learning paths found on Microsoft Learn or LinkedIn Learning – is essential for extracting meaning from the data, and taking the healthcare sector into the digital-first area.
To keep up with the digital transformation pace in healthcare, medical SMBs will also need to ensure that the sensitive, personal data they work with is stored securely and compliantly. Investment in the right storage infrastructure, like a scalable, intelligent cloud solution such as Azure that supports AI deployment, regional data compliance, as well as secure, real-time data-sharing capabilities that easily integrate with clinical workflows, is vital.
I believe that for medical SMBs in MEA to leverage the power of AI, and reimagine the healthcare practice of the future, they need to focus on becoming data-ready now. The global pandemic has accelerated digital transformation across industries, and the health sector is no exception. This sector is also predicted to generate the most volume of data in the near- future, so it is critical for medical SMBs to understand how data can be used to boost clinical workflow efficiency, which will ultimately improve patient care. For me, there is no doubt AI holds hugely transformative capabilities for the region’s healthcare – and being data-ready is the first step to making big changes.