During the first of our virtual meetings, we were able to see how eHealth, understood as the set of Information and Communication Technologies (I.C.T.s), used in the health environment in terms of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, as well as health management, is going to be implemented exponentially. And the experts referred to several initiatives that had already been launched quite successfully, such as telemedicine and home delivery of medicines.
At the second meeting, the professionals discussed the different initiatives that have incorporated the voice of patients in the evaluation and integration of health technologies in clinical practice. It also highlighted some of the aspects that are being worked on more recently. That can be accelerated by the current crisis situation, such as those related to practical assessment of health outcomes, trying to incorporate variables that matter to patients.
Big Data platforms allow us to combine traditional mass data with individual and population data. These structures offer the possibility of organizing information effectively, integrating structured and unstructured data, together with those coming from the regular use of information and communication technologies (I.C.T.) by patients, professionals, and the general population. In addition, they allow data to be analyzed and visualized while generating predictive models and decision support systems. Big Data-based Technology drives more modern, patient-centered clinical management and clinical outcomes measurement, enabling us to measure the value of our interventions. The idea is to make a series of key indicators related to the disease available to health professionals to know the clinical situation of patients. This will enable management through dynamic dashboards that will help facilitate value-based decision-making and the most up-to-date information possible.
Michael Porter coined the concept of Value-Based Health Care. In this way, health systems must be evaluated by their capacity to generate health outcomes (that matter to patients) concerning the costs involved. Some consortiums such as ICHOM have been pioneers in developing a catalog of health results in various pathologies already being implemented in their organizations by various health centers. In addition, some platforms and software that have appeared on the market serve to build dashboards that are accessible to clinicians and middle managers and facilitate decision-making. However, a critical analysis of the current supply available is possibly missing.
Innovation, artificial intelligence, and Big Data lead us to a health transformation and a new paradigm of Medicine, the famous five Ps: preventive, predictive, personalized, participative, and population-based. This change process will generate multiple developments, including the Hospital of the future, which may force us to think about offering services without the need for a physical space in the Hospital. First, however, a connection will be necessary, both inside and out. Knowledge will be better shared and distributed. And possibly, we will have a patient who is increasingly connected, with more capacity to access information and, indeed, with more willingness to participate in health-related decisions.
To reflect on all these points, we have an excellent panel of opinion leaders with diverse areas of expertise. Bernardo Valdivieso, Director of Planning at Hospital La Fe; Inés Gallego, Deputy Director of Innovation and Quality at Hospital Universitario Cruces in Bilbao; Jordi Martínez, Director of Innovation and Digital Transformation of Hospital del Mar, Barcelona; and Julio García Comesaña, Manager of the Integrated Management Area of Vigo, who will be moderated by Luis Lizán, Director of Outcomes’10.
