“We cannot hope to develop digital health care without a clearly defined economic model”
The current health crisis has highlighted the weaknesses of our health care system.
We knew about the challenges of the number of doctors or nurses in certain areas or specialties, the number of beds and the resources of the health care system, but they have become overriding. In confronting the pandemic, our health care system has also come face to face with new problems - the need to report test statistics, to know the real-time availability of intensive care beds, to monitor certain pathologies remotely, to urgently organize mass and targeted vaccination programs…
New needs to be addressed that require new tools. This pressure on the French health care system will not decrease, as is made evident by demographics - the number of chronic patients was more than 10 million in 2017. By 2030, this number will reach 15 million and the number of people over 75 will have increased by 30%.
Our care model is under constant strain and each year the flu or bronchiolitis epidemic results in a hospital crisis. This situation will not go away when the crisis is over. The resources allocated to the care system seem insufficient given the constant increase in expectations and needs.
Beyond the resources, we have significant systemic efficiency problems, which to date have not been addressed by technological progress, unlike other activities such as financial services or mobility.
To overcome the challenges of the pandemic, two levers have proved very effective. On the one hand, the strong commitment of the care teams and all those involved with hospitals. On the other hand, what was technologically impossible just a few months ago has become the rule in a few short weeks (use of digital co-ordination services, teleconsultation).
Our health care system cannot continue to demand the impossible from caregivers. It will only improve if there is a very strong acceleration of its digital transition.
Digital technology is therefore the only way to preserve our health system. It will ensure its in-depth transformation and improve the quality of care.