According to an expert panel at European eHealth Week, it’s at last dawning on clinicians that what with the public having access to more technology than they do, it’s a very good idea to involve them more in their healthcare.
Missing from the consult?
It’s an issue of respect, according to Dr Alex Jadad, Chief Innovator and Founder, Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Canada. “We have to respect the public more rather than taking a governmentalised approach to healthcare. This means that we need to let go – but are we ready to do so? We are control freaks.
“Healthcare has been very good at adopting imaging and diagnostic technology, but poor at adopting ICT solutions,” Jadad said. “I don’t know how long we can continue to deny the fact that the public has more access to technology than healthcare professionals. We must start working with the public as a partner.”
Dr Libby Morris, a GP at NHS Scotland, member of the Scottish Government eHealth Directorate, and former chair of Scottish Clinical Information in Medical Practice, told the discussion “Clinicians are just beginning to realise the benefits of allowing patients to be partners in their care. But it’s a change of culture.”
Scotland has some impressive ehealth inititiatives, but while members of the Scottish parliament have recently voted to extend telehealth technology across the country, according to Dr Morris, the advances can stop at the border.
Roughly 99.9% of the Scottish population have an emergency care summary that is restricted to prescription and adverse reactions from primary care. Patients must give their consent before a physician can look at it. But the information is restricted to Scotland and cannot be accessed by a doctor in England, let alone in Spain.
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Good article – if only we had such progression in Australia – the current debate about privacy in healthcare is thwarting many similar initiatives in our country and we will all be the poorer for it.
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