‘Digital technology key to efficient healthcare’

SINGAPORE – The Philippine government must invest in digital technology if it wants to improve its healthcare system, an executive of a multinational company that focuses on healthcare innovations said as she presented a 2019 study highlighting the role of technology in the efficient delivery of health services.

“I think it is very important for emerging countries like the Philippines to have a digital roadmap,” Caroline Clarke, Royal Philips chief executive officer for the ASEAN and Pacific said in a recent interview with The STAR at the company’s headquarters here. 

“If you look at the Philippines and how many islands you have and how many remote areas you have, the challenge is to be able to bring healthcare to more people in an efficient way.”

Philips recently commissioned a study dubbed as the “Future Health Index 2019 Report: Transforming healthcare experiences: Exploring the impact of digital healh technology on healthcare professionals and patients.”

The study involves surveys and interviews of 15,000 individuals/patients and 3,000 healthcare professionals including doctors, surgeons and nurses across a variety of specializations, in 15 countries: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Poland, United Kingdom and United States of America.

The study was conducted from March 4 to May 19, 2019.

Clarke said that though the Philippines is not a party in the study, the country can learn from its key findings particularly in terms of maximizing the benefits of remote consultations and patient monitoring also dubbed as “telehealth,” improving the system of storing, accessing and sharing the digital health records of patients and incorporating artificial intelligence in the medical practice for efficient workflow and more precise diagnosis.