The reductive and lazy terminations of the possibility of bringing about free market systems of healthcare, in addition to the administrative and legislative obstacles enforced by federal government agencies, have all been brought into the limelight in the wake of the pandemic. However, handling them is not the function of this article; there are an adequate number which can easily resolve the normal grievances. One impact of the pandemic, particularly relevant to political discourse, is that it has produced a concern which has never been so widely asked on a global scale: What do we do next? Fortunately, Mauritian digital health supporter and medical professional Dr. Pranavsingh Dhunnoo supplies a stepping stone for this conversation in his exceptional book Pandemic and Beyond: Our Healthcare System Should Turn Sci-fi into Science Truth.
From the very outset, Dr. Dhunnoo does not present himself as a libertarian, nor does he claim to be in favor of removing any federal government existence in healthcare. He avoids politicizing his scientific opinions. The thesis of his book presents a simple and salient case: the great wave of digitalization that has actually come to define the early twenty-first century must engulf the medical organizations of little establishing nations, not only to enhance the quality of healthcare provided to the citizens of these states, however also to eliminate what he refers to as “the ivory tower of medicine, highly protected by physician and leaving clients out of any discussions.” Though the book does not avoid bending the author’s practically encyclopedic understanding of medical developments and patient crises spanning the globe, it acknowledges that the reader may not possess the exact same level of awareness and for that reason takes an unique method to best communicate Dr. Dhunnoo’s earnest faith in digital health care.
The Natural Advancement of Health Care
In section I (so titled), Dr. Dhunnoo uses the Medical Futurist Institute’s (MFI) definition of digital health: “The cultural transformation of how disruptive innovations that supply digital and objective data accessible to both caretakers and clients causes an equal level doctor-patient relationship with shared decision-making and the democratisation of care.” He mentions a declaration of the MFI’s founder, Dr. Bertalan Meskó, that I think is at the danger of becoming a cliché: patients are the most underused resource in health care. However, as the book goes on to show, the cliché has been dealt with as simply that, instead of a market standard.
Dr. Dhunnoo squanders no time in making sure the reader’s ideas do not immediately roam or remain focused on countries where healthcare is considered either sacrosanct or a lost cause; we are brought to the examples of Kazakhstan, Rwanda, and Denmark, where the governments have actually started adopting digital health strategies at a nationwide level. Nevertheless, he is really careful to not rest the problem on the shoulders of governments alone; he tells his encounter with Dr. Olzhas Abhishev, Kazakhstan’s vice minister of health care. Throughout their interaction, lack of digital literacy was worried as a crucial aspect, especially in still developing nations where SMS notifications are the favored method of doctor-patient communication.
Dr. Dhunnoo concludes the very first area with a salient statistic which highlights the requirement for a quicker transition to digital healthcare in the aftermath of the pandemic. He composes: “While the pandemic was raging in 2020, investments in digital health business in the U.S. alone amounted to $1.4 billion. Such circulation of capital made that year the record-breaking one in digital health investments; almost double that of the previous record year which was 2018 when some $8.1 billion was raised.”
The Fiction and the Truth
The second area of the book is where the reader discovers the abovementioned novel technique; it juxtaposes a number of starkly sensible scenarios with real-life examples in which the issues of privacy, client choice, false medical signals, and possibly fatal waiting times are dealt with by the usage of products and services currently on the market and readily available to consumers. Simply to name a few:
- In the month of May 2020 alone, the Mauritian telemedicine service, Abler Digital Health, was released to fulfill the requirements of local communities, even supplying free mental consultations.Portable diagnostic devices that have actually been utilized by clients, such as the pocketable digital pediatric stethoscope StethoMe, Omron’s HeartGuide smartwatch and its integrated blood pressure screen, and the Corrie app, established by Johns Hopkins Medical Center for cardiovascular patients, which has actually caused a 52 percent lower threat of patients being readmitted to a medical facility thirty days after their last discharge.3-D printing workshops operated by nongovernmental companies to produce individual protective equipment along with prosthetics for individuals in need who are stranded in poor rural regions. For example, Refugee Open War 3-D printed prosthetics in thirty-six hours at a production expense of$50 and provided them to Syrian refugees. 3-D printing has likewise been used to print medicine; in 2020, FabRx launched the first pharmaceutical 3-D printer to produce tailored medicine, the M3DIMAKER, which can print one month’s medication or twenty-eight tablets in around eight minutes.The use of virtual reality to improve surgical efficiency and for a variety of other restorative functions: a 2019 UCLA scientific recognition study discovered that individuals trained through Osso VR’s platform had an overall surgical performance improved by 230 percent compared to those trained in standard techniques. Similarly, orthopedic trainees who used VirtaMed’s simulators were discovered to be 20 percent faster and trigger 30 percent less cartilage damage than those who trained on cadavers. With the proof laid out, the reader soon finds himself asking: What is all the brouhaha about? Why are these advancements not being capitalized on, especially throughout a period in history when they’re most needed? A Controlled Landscape The third and final area of the book handles a more cautionary tone; it warns readers not just about the danger of patient records in systems that are still predominantly paper based and likewise not to ignore the abilities of the empowered client in
the digital age. With regard to the previous, Dr. Dhunnoo advocates for the use of blockchain: a shared digital journal, this digital system uses security through openness, also practically eliminating the threat of losing client records. He points out the examples of Estonia and the United Arab Emirates, where financial investments are presently being made in blockchain innovation. He points out the 2017 WannaCry attacks on sixty-one National Health Service organizations in the United Kingdom and on the Dusseldorf University Medical Facility in Germany in September of in 2015 as the devastating effects of medical institutions stopping working to adjust and therefore leaving their patients susceptible to ransomware.
And it appears that Dr. Dhunnoo expects the weeps of the masses that not every person will have the ability to manage these brand-new advancements. He writes: It’s also true that not every patient can pay for those however for patients with persistent conditions, such tools can end up being a financial investment to help in easily monitoring their vitals.
Additionally, insurance companies can even more subsidise such tools to make them more available to patients. Some research currently reveals that 55% of patients are willing to share
their personal data obtained through tech devices with insurance providers. In addition, Dhunnoo lays out the history of the #wearenotwaiting online movement: the diabetic community has actually long been awaiting the arrival of the”artificial pancreas,”which immediately administer insulin and glucagon in the correct amount at the right time, avoiding deadly issues such as dead-in-bed syndrome. The frustration with the onerous medical regulations birthed this motion and several
community-based efforts, such as the open-sourced diy artificial pancreas, conversation platforms like DiabetesMine, and cloud-based solutions like Tidepool. The momentum that Dhunnoo argues client communities have acquired in the pandemic has been furthered in nations with even the most advanced health care systems, such as Germany, due to their failure to adjust to digitalization. McKinsey’s eHealth Monitor 2020 reported that despite expanding digital facilities, adoption is lagging. The report found that in 2019, 93 percent of physicians in Germany still communicated with hospitals on paper, while 44% of all healthcare facilities exchanged medical data by digital ways, and many outpatient medical professionals and pharmacists stay sceptical of digital solutions. This shows the need for a cultural transformation that is part and parcel of digital health. Conclusion To repeat, Dr. Dhunnoo’s book is not for
ideologues of any shape, size, or name. It is just an excitedly crafted and magnificently written love letter to those who seek to enhance the quality of healthcare in their regional, nationwide, and regional contexts. He refuses to kowtow to the claim that health care, although numerous argue it is a human right, is something that just the federal government, of all institutions, can and must supply. If anything, Pandemic and Beyond serves as a suggestion to readers(the dirigiste type, a minimum of)that beyond governmental
purview more can, and should, be done to provide much better and more effective healthcare to regional communities.