Quick advances in digital healthcare have become possible thanks to the COVID-19. But also, before that technology was starting to be recognized in healthcare. Pandemic has helped countries in the digitalization of healthcare. Many governments use apps created by tech startups to help themselves efficiently fight the spread of covid, for example, chatbots that can give you medical advice and additionally, minimize the interactions between people or telemedicine thanks to which people can get help from doctors without leaving their home.
Undoubtedly, many positive aspects come with the presence of technology within this sector. Everything is faster, safer, and more efficient. Even greater is that AI and machine learning make healthcare more available. People from poorer regions can seek help without spending an enormous sum of money on diagnosis or treatment. One of the most basic technologies related to health used in Africa is SMS text that reminds people to take medicine for HIV or tuberculosis. It is also possible for people who live on isolated lands to communicate with doctors and get much-needed care at much less cost.
During the last few years, many startups regarding digital health have been created and mostly it is a good thing. Such applications as TrustCircle can keep your mental health in check and inform you about your condition before it might be too late. It is used mostly in colleges and corporates where the atmosphere is rather competitive, and people might need some sort of help
During the COVID-19 era, machine learning also has been a great tool for forecasting the spread of viruses and made it possible for governments to better prepare for pandemics.
Applications that are used by officials to control the quarantine and track singular people can be very helpful in limiting the spread of infection, for example, in China. But they can also be a threat to human rights and privacy. If tracking movement of people would be justified daily uncontrolled, that could lead to discrimination of minorities and preventing them from seeking medical attention.
But usage of such applications requires a lot of patient medical data, and there are suspicions that the privacy of such information isn’t properly protected and can be used for wrong purposes, especially if it isn’t regulated by the government. In the USA a study was made where 33 of 50 questioned hospitals were working with private companies like Google, Amazon, or Microsoft without open rules regarding data protection. It means that patient data isn’t protected and is used by private companies. Furthermore, one review on one of the medical-related apps on android found that 79 percent of user data has been shared with other private companies, such as ad companies. Also, worth mentioning is the current state of data security. Medical data is a very sensitive one and its safety is crucial for digitalizing healthcare. Already in 2017, there had been a case of breaking data protection laws by NHS trust fund. It shared medical records of over 1.6m British to DeepMind. Google faced then lawsuit (DeepMind belongs to Google) over data-sharing. This shows that data isn’t protected and is shared without our consent. We shouldn’t go forward with progress if we can’t guarantee basic rights to our data, especially as sensitive as medical data.
Applications that are used by officials to control the quarantine and track singular people can be very helpful in limiting the spread of infection, for example, in China. But they can also be a threat to human rights and privacy. If tracking movement of people would be justified daily uncontrolled, that could lead to discrimination of minorities and preventing them from seeking medical attention.
The world is certainly changing, digital healthcare is a promising change for our old-fashioned ways, but a lot of effort yet needs to be made to make some real progress in medicine without endangering the rights and privacy of people.
Sources:
https://www.ft.com/content/7aba9066-dffe-4829-a1cd-1d557b963a82
https://www.ft.com/content/a3095835-2416-4235-967b-7986d1678601
https://www.ft.com/content/cdc166d4-6845-11ea-a6ac-9122541af204
https://www.ft.com/content/31c927c6-684a-11ea-a6ac-9122541af204
I think the digital healthcare definitely is a future. Even when it comes to a simple doctor appointment, when you only want to know your blood results, the telemedicine is surely a really useful tool. The in-person visits are really often just not necessary and the COVID-19 just showed and speeded up the process that should have happened long time ago. When a sick person shows up to the doctor, she/he not only meet other sick people and they can exchange the viruses, but can also transfer the germs to other people when traveling by public transport to get to the appointment. But as you said in the article, the privacy aspects of using our medical records/data for the sake of the digital healthcare definitely have to be more protected.