The Irish Medical Times - The Generational Divide - digital, socks or shorts?
Socks and shorts are a fun way to tell us all apart, but perhaps the real truth that divides the generations is how digital we are (or are not).
Like it or not we are shaped by our society and the companies and public services that we use every day. Technology has become part of our existence and what it means to be a human today. Therefore it is not surprising to see companies throwing some thought and consideration to their ‘digital strategies’. The digital revolution is underway and to remain relevant corporations are expanding their online presence, getting all up in the cloud, harnessing AI, rolling out apps, putting the ‘dig it’ back in ‘digital’.
Obviously Big Tech have led the way by making sure we all moved away from traditional phone suppliers and now use their fancy smartphones. To put it in perspective, there are purported to be 7.21 billion smartphones in existence, that’s 90% of the world's 8 billion population.
But to live our everyday life we don’t need to concern ourselves with Google, Apple and Microsoft’s digital strategies per se, we need to know what our local supermarket is doing, for example, can I order online? What about the local school, can I log my child’s sick day via an app? What about work, can I attend meetings virtually? The expectation for a company or service to have a digital approach is rising rapidly to the top of everyone’s agenda.
When you think of speed and agile response the HSE is probably the last company you would think of. Like many national health services it is often seen as a dinosaur lumbering along, dragged down by inefficiencies, bureaucracies and a general ‘no-can-do’ attitude. However, this dinosaur recently launched their ‘HSE Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024-2030’.
The HSE are looking to drive the digital health transformation thus providing more “seamless, safe, secure and connected health services” to support the patients and providers. This year they will launch a HSE app with medical history and records, next year a roll-out of the shared care record, with a longer term deployment of electronic health records.
I know some people recoil at the thought of going digital, but I personally don’t like living in a world where my supermarket has an electronic file on me but my hospital doesn’t!
I had a medical procedure this week in a major hospital that still uses paper files. I was admitted, given a big manilla folder which I passed to a secretary who added more paper to it, who handed it to a nurse, who walked me to another nurse and handed it to her. I was shown to my bed by another nurse and somehow the file was lost. My 8am procedure was delayed until 12.30pm while they sourced another paper file. I had attended that hospital for major surgery in the past but none of that was in my file, because my file (which they had to create twice) was a temporary paper folder. My long list of medications were scribbled down in a margin, people were handing me blank forms to sign and ticking the boxes afterwards. The experience did not fill me with confidence. I was left with the impression that if I returned to that hospital they would have no record of me and another manilla folder would be produced to start all over again.
The next day, a nurse rang me to see how I was. We discussed the intricacies of a particular pain - a computer can’t do that.
If the HSE are taking the bold step towards digital, are all of the other government services also following suit? This needs to be a group effort in my opinion. According to the government's website they are looking to position Ireland as a digital leader in the heart of Europe. They plan to increase broadband connectivity nationally, provide digital education throughout schools, they have a target of 90% of services to be consumed online by 2030, grants for small businesses will be provided to build on digital opportunities, and more investment will go into cyber security.
The key element in all of this is participation, without this, there is no plan. I think the government will have to factor in more hand-holding during the change, increased tailored education and allowances for those who can’t or won’t participate.
There will be people who can’t onboard to a digital approach whether through age, ability, education, location, finances, distrust, fear, dislike, etc. We can’t leave these people behind, especially with public services which should be accessible by all. I am an advocate for change and technological progression but even I don’t want to lose the human touch. Perhaps the best compromise is a hybrid approach.
I think over time the kids with the socks and the shorts and the big social conscience will grow up and move us down a paperless route. Until then I am happily hybrid and I look forward to an electronic health system that will no doubt cause ructions in the short-term but over time I think it will make a patients life a little less manilla.
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