The Role Of Medical Associations In The Digital Health Era

The Digital Health Implementation Playbook, released by the AMA recently, marks an essential step in the expansion of the functions of medical associations as promoters of digital health and as guides for application of disruptive solutions in the 21st century. Here, we provide an overview of the development paths of medical associations from book clubs until advocacy networks – and draw up a potential way towards digitally savvy innovation hubs.

From medical book clubs to knowledge societies

Societies, associations or groups comprising of doctors, pharmacists or other representatives of the medical profession have been present since the 18th century, mainly the revolution of science and the dawn of modern medicine. John Coakley Lettsom, who founded the Medical Society of London in 1773, which invited both physicians, surgeons and apothecaries in its ranks, said that the association should be “A Society of medical practitioners of various ranks who would meet together to compare their observations and compare their thoughts mutually, taking note of new discoveries at home and abroad”.

The noble task of sharing knowledge, exchanging thoughts and the results of the latest research was the primary task of medical societies in the 18th-19th century as the exchange of information was way more limited than today. That’s why in many cases, medical book clubs turned into organizations representing the medical profession. Education and setting the standards for excellence for the job – for example in the framework of recommendations or clinical practice guidelines - have remained ever since the cornerstones of medical associations.

Source: www.gruil.com 

Present-day functions of medical associations

The original function of connecting colleagues for exchanging knowledge and creating a platform for discussions has been considerably widened. Beyond keeping their members informed through all means of communication – newsletters, websites, e-mails, conferences, medical associations undertook the causes of medical professionals by advocating for their rights and interests, assisting doctors in protecting the interests of their patients or helping settle their disputes.

On a more macro-level, if a physician belongs to a medical society, he or she is tapped into a broader professional network whose mission is to inform members about the newest, best practices. Along these lines, the association has all the means as well as the pool to give guidance and direction to doctors and other medical professionals about the present as well as the future of their profession. Moreover, it could also provide tools to prepare for the coming changes.

Also, a medical association with thousands of members is able to create large-scale collaborations and undertake large surveys. For example, the American Medical Association (AMA) partnered with Google to find new ways to share data within the AMA's Healthcare Interoperability and Innovation Challenge.

Source: www.cmajnews.com 

Digital health and medical associations

The exponential growth in the availability of health technologies coupled with the slow change in the field of regulations and healthcare policy creates a situation in which the institution of medical associations could strengthen. Physicians, nurses, surgeons, medical students, and other medical professionals are looking for yardsticks to smoothly take the transition from “analog” to digital healthcare systems, and medical associations have all the means to give a helping hand. They have a structure to educate actors of the healthcare scene about the latest technological changes, how to integrate digital health achievements into practices or they might even finance specific projects in the area of digital health or health IT.

Medical associations could also provide a long-term vision about the future of healthcare and help tackle the hurdles in front of reaching a desired state of play. Thus, these societies have a huge responsibility in preparing doctors and nurses for the coming years. In the more and more complex digital, financial and scientific life, physicians could feel left alone, not to say left behind, without the efficient support of umbrella organizations.

Source: www.doctors20.com 

At the forefront of innovation

Naturally, medical associations can only provide efficient help if they understand digital health and the cultural transformation around it; if they can pinpoint the hurdles physicians are dealing with and can offer expertise to efficiently solve them.

Luckily, numerous professional organizations are keeping pace with the times. The Commonwealth Medical Association set up the Commonwealth Center for Digital Health and launched the institution in April 2018. With a central hub based in London, the CCDH has the goal to promote digital transformation in healthcare. In collaboration with regional centers in the Commonwealth nations, the organization supports the implementation and clinical application of digital health technologies, acts as an incubator for agile start-ups, and offers education in the area of digital health.

The German Medical Association has uplifted former restrictions for doctors to provide telemedical services to patients in the summer of 2018. The move promotes the expansion of telemedicine and, in a broader sense, digital health. Also, the Indian Medical Association is drawing up a digital code of conduct for doctors to help them maintain the profession’s code of ethics as a growing number of portals connect them with patients.

Source: www.theconversation.com 

The AMA and its Digital Health Implementation Playbook

The AMA, founded in 1847 and having about 240,000 members, invested considerable time and energy into guiding physicians in the US towards digital health. One of the latest examples is the publishing of the Digital Health Implementation Playbook, a step-by-step guide on how to integrate digital tools into practice in general and telehealth services in particular.

Michael Hodgkins, Chief Medical Information Officer at the AMA, told The Medical Futurist that the road to the Playbook started with a survey in 2016 among physicians looking for what level of enthusiasm and what concerns they had for digital health solutions. It turned out that although excitement was quite high, the adoption levels remained lower than expected and the concerns were cemented around four issues: the lack of scientific evidence, payment and reimbursement issues, privacy and security concerns and how to integrate tools into clinical practice.

With the results of the survey in mind, the AMA launched a network called XCERTIA to develop guidelines and standards for e-health and the Physician Innovation Network. The latter is a virtual place for physicians and entrepreneurs to engage in conversation about their innovations, to test prototypes and even pilot them. The Digital Health Implementation Playbook is the most recent tool of the AMA, a living document guiding physicians through the difficulties of the adoption of new technologies. While the Playbook is the result of 80 interviews and working sessions with different healthcare professionals, consumers and others on how to best implement digital health solutions in practice, the AMA is still continuously looking for feedback to improve it. The association also asked The Medical Futurist Institute for its comments and recommendations - and we were honored to provide it.

Source: www.ehrintelligence.com 

The digital way forward?

Concerning the role of medical associations in the 21st century, Hodgkins said that there’s an ongoing discussion within the organization how to best fulfill the mission, which is really to advance the science and art of care for the public benefit. We’re developing more tools to interact as an association, and we also focus on the need to create new models of care and to help physicians transition to these new models of care, he explained.

Going forward, there will be more and more effort on the part of the AMA in pursuing how to get the most effective solutions in the hands of physicians and patients – with the expectation that we can improve patient care and patient satisfaction as well as ameliorate the problem of physician burnout. We’re not gonna be able to do that without finding ways to successfully use these digital tools, he concluded. The Medical Futurist agrees: medical associations all around the world should recognize the immense potential in digital instruments to solve the imminent human resources crisis in healthcare and to offer patients the highest level of care in more efficient ways while doing everything in their power to guide physicians towards digital health.

Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD is The Medical Futurist and Director of The Medical Futurist Institute analyzing how science fiction technologies can become reality in medicine and healthcare. As a geek physician with a PhD in genomics, he is a keynote speaker and an Amazon Top 100 author.

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