Prologue
I was reading an article about how COVID-19 caused the transition to an overly digital healthcare system had been fast tracked by 10 years. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare weaknesses in health systems and healthcare approaches as the world works to cope with the dual challenge of a global pandemic and ongoing patient needs.
Key Points
- COVID has demonstrated that health visits can be executed successfully through telehealth.
- Having integrated health data has been integral to aspects of the pandemic response, including the tracking and distribution of billions of vaccine doses.
- The pandemic has motivated tech workers to bring their skills to the work of improving human health.
Digital Healthcare’s Moment
The pandemic has also brought us to a unique moment where we are learning at scale that data science and digital technology can improve human health in powerful ways. This is digital healthcare’s moment, and there are clear steps the health sectors around the globe can take to meet it. The healthcare sector has been something that has lagged behind in terms of the use of digital services for improving healthcare for their patients. While the data gathered over a long time has suggested that large percentages of health visits can be executed successfully through telehealth, COVID-19 has brought that fact to bear.
In my honest opinion we are at the tipping point of a new era in health, an era in which we have the opportunity to embrace digital healthcare and dramatically improve human health on a global scale. In the face of a devastating pandemic that has rattled the world, we’ve brought within our reach the right technological advances, the right talent, and a renewed sense of commitment to meet this moment.
Digital Pharmacy
Technology allows pharmacies to create programs that fully automate a patient’s prescription refill history and check into other prescriptions filled at different pharmacies, giving pharmacists the ability to monitor and better track the patient’s overall health and safety.
PDMPs, a tool used in the US which collect state specific controlled substance prescription data that are operational or under development in most states. Checking the PDMP database before filling a controlled substance prescription is optional in most states, but highly encouraged. The information contained in a state’s PDMP can help doctors and pharmacists ensure the safety of all patients when prescribing and using controlled substances.
In Pharmacy the technology advancements goes both ways, it has allowed the creation of tools for both the Pharamacist and the Patient. In light of the COVID pandemic, technology was once again used as a way of monitoring vaccines and the people who recieved them. For the vaccines it was made in a way that you recieved both a phyiscal card with information regarding your dose, the date of your second dose etc. This was also uploaded to a database, which was then used in regards to vaccine passes. Many pharmacy’s moved to using an online booking method for getting your doses, something pharmacy’s had been dabbling in use, the onset of COVID brought on the transition much quicker.