Chief Digital Health Officer | Digital Health Expert | Head of Innovation at VAMED MEDITERRA | Pioneer in Digital Health | Esteemed Author of 'Karel’s DIGest' & 'Karel’s HealthTech Chronicles'
Karel's HealthTech Chronicles #13 Dear readers, it's 2:17 a.m. Czech local time—a perfect moment to think about trends in digital healthcare. Today, I'd like to explore the following topics. The process of creating therapies by doctors will change. The time of hospital information systems as passive sources of information has passed. The era of intelligent systems is already on the horizon. Here in Czechia, we skipped one evolutionary step: clinical systems with a Medical Business Intelligence layer. It seems we're leaping directly from passive systems to intelligent ones. Let's now define what intelligent clinical systems mean. First, we need all available data about the patient, which means we must connect data from HIS, LIS, PACS, digital pathology, X-Rays, Ultrasounds, MRIs, CTs, PET/CTs, etc. Once we have this data, we can begin analysis. This analysis will be performed by machines. The long minutes spent reading data and trying to connect the dots are over. Sophisticated analysis will be delivered automatically with probable diagnoses. You, as a doctor, will also receive expert suggestions for therapy planning. You will have powerful tools that visualize problems and benchmark your patient's conditions. Voilà, a real medical digital companion is at your service. It's hard to predict how this will change the current level of medicine. We will have to learn how to use these powerful tools. Will it be about faster or more precise treatments? I am ready to observe the real-life impacts of this new technology. AI-enhanced systems are not sci-fi. They already exist, and the first doctors are beginning to adopt them. Yes, there are many questions, but the trend is clear. We must not forget to also mention functions like voice-to-text. The best results will be achieved once we merge these functions with intelligent AI models. Data handling in healthcare will almost redefine the term 'evidence-based medicine.' It will change clinical trials and the way they are performed. Imagine connecting clinical data with research data. I learned about some great examples of this recently, which I'll try to share with you later. It's time for certain managers in healthcare to add terms like FHIR or OMOP to their vocabulary and to understand precisely what they mean. The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is a great opportunity for Europe to discover the treasure in data. I already see how powerful the impact of this new regulation is on the daily lives of hospitals. It really helps move us forward. It's crucial to recognize that we must standardize and structure data to unleash the full potential of our medical knowledge. I really enjoy discussing healthcare data content management and its use for better care. We must not forget that everything we do in this sphere should benefit the patients. I will be attending several events this year and look forward to meeting all of you who are interested in the topics mentioned above. Good night.
