Sunjoy Mathieu
Founder & Co-lead "Women in Digital Health"
As we could all see, COVID-19 has been a massive driver for digital health, Artificial Intelligence and related fields, so I was especially impressed with this article by WIRED. It starts with the outbreak being spotted in an AI intervention and how it has been used for prediction, screening, contact alerts, faster diagnosis and laboratory drug discovery, shown by different powerful examples.
However, these glimpses of light could not prevent some fearful sceneries in many vulnerable healthcare systems around the world.
Why there are still two reasons for optimism in the future – firstly, data, the lifeblood of AI, and secondly, the sharp and worldwide focus of medical and computer scientists – and why the potential goes far beyond diagnosis and treatment, is wonderfully highlighted.
Gabriëlle Speijer MD
Radiation Oncologist at Haga Hospital, The Netherlands, Founder CatalyzIT
This article exposes the gap between the clinical-operational part and the information-technology part of the health- and care landscape. Professor Lindsell and colleagues indicate the solution to close the gap in order to shorten the cycle from innovation to positive influence. By connecting data science with clinical and operational needs in defining the desired change that will be made in the health care system, not the other way around.
Designing technology in health care should begin with asking what system change this technology is expected to precipitate; engaging end-users at the outset of data interrogation can elicit information about what is needed to achieve change in practice.
It empowers me, even more, to help doctors transform to data-driven doctors, taking the lead in this growing health information technology landscape on behalf of society and staying the trusted link for the health client.
John Sharp
Personal Connected Health Alliance
We hear a lot about telehealth these days as a solution for providers whose time has come. But has anyone asked patients about how this rapid change been for them?
I asked two patient advocates about their experiences and received some positive feedback about convenience, getting questions answered and protecting immune-compromised patients from being exposed to COVID-19. On the negative side, the lack of access for some providers to the patient's data, difficulty in finding a private space at home to talk and missing the personal touch. Both advocates strongly recommended that telehealth providers ask patients about how to improve the experience and make it more patient-centric.
Kristine Sorensen
Global Health Literacy Academy
I can recommend this article on how health care has plunged into the digital age during the pandemic. For decades, we have advocated for more digital service to patients and wondered why other sectors were light years ahead.
This article explains the turn-around is happening over a few weeks based on facts and figures from the American health arena. It argues the pros and cons of what will remain in the future. Interestingly, it is stated that when doctors were confronted with empty clinics due to the pandemic, they changed without resistance. Time will show how digital health will stay included as part of the services after the COVID-19.
Professor Jeroen M Hendriks
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
The TeleCheck-AF approach has been rapidly developed and implemented during COVID-19 pandemic and is crucial in maintaining management for patients with atrial fibrillation while keeping these vulnerable patients out of the hospital to prevent infection.
This approach will continue beyond COVID-19 and has influenced the care pathway for patients with atrial fibrillation and the way of delivering care. The two publications below are therefore important an the approach has been mentioned in the third publication as well.
- TeleCheck-AF for COVID-19
- On-demand app-based rate and rhythm monitoring to manage atrial fibrillation through tele-consultations during COVID-19
- Delivering healthcare at distance to cardiac patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences from clinical practice
Professor Robert S. H. Istepanian
Institute of Global Health Innovation, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London.
I encourage to read the text regarding the concept of mobile health (m-Health) and its technological foundations globally. It is considered one of the most highly cited papers on mobile health since then and a key scientific reference to all the research and the market-driven applications and the developments in this area and based on the scientific and engineering issues outlined in this paper.
Denise Silber
CEO Doctors 2.0
Prior to this article, I was already following with interest Dr Denis's use of digital health for the improvement of clinical care. Dr Denis is one of the early French clinicians to 1) observe that clinical appointments alone cannot provide all the information the health system needs to provide better care, and 2) imagine that patient communication of symptoms through applications whether on the web or mobile phones, could become an integral part of the process, and 3) to actually create such applications and see them through the regulatory process.
