“Sharing best-practices and establishing standards are key to change the narrative on digital healthcare. We are to move away from a risk-based outlook to an outlook identifying benefits and opportunities”, agrees Jahn Henry Løvaas, DNV GL.
One of the key questions that emerged at DNV GL workshop Internet of People – Rebooting healthcare, on digitalisation of healthcare in December was “how to enable trust in digital healthcare solutions?”
Jahn Henry Løvaas, the Executive Director of Life Sciences, DNV GL, added that “healthcare could learn from the experience of other industries where trust is crucial.”
As explained by Eva Turk, lead researcher at DNV GL, Internet of People refers to the digitalisation of relationships between people, as well as the collection, processing and use of personal data. “The interconnectedness of technology, data, individuals and healthcare workers can facilitate the creation of new models of care that are participatory, predictive, personalised and focused on prevention”, she said.
Professor Brian Caulfield, Insight Center for Data Analytics adds; “We have the technology tools to make a revolution in healthcare happen, but it is not there yet. We have to ask, why is that the case?”
Ms Terje Peetso (European Commission, DG for Communications Networks, Content & Technology) referred to current EU initiatives, which help address the issue of trust.
The main benefits of the adoption of Internet of People in the healthcare field identified include a more personalised approach to care, a shift from reactive to preventive care and lower healthcare costs. Moreover effective health data collection and use has the potential of revolutionising health research. To benefit from that however, associated risks such as data privacy, lack of trust in technology, lack of health and technology literacy and fragmented IT laws should be addressed.
On the 9th of December 2016 DNV GL hosted its 4th healthcare workshop in the Norway House in Brussels, which focused on how to best adopt digitalisation, connectivity and sharing of data in healthcare systems. The discussions will contribute to DNV GL’s White paper on Internet of People, to be released in February 2017.
About DNV GL Group Technology and Research:
The Group Technology and Research programme "Life Sciences" is committed to working with healthcare organisations to develop safe and sustainable digital ecosystems that empower individuals and communities to achieve lasting health for all.