In a recent webinar hosted by DXC Technology, speakers Dr Vinod Seetharaman (Chief Medical Officer, Asia DXC Technology), Mark Wren (General Manager of Healthcare and Life Science Cloud Portfolio Owner, DXC Technology) and Dr Stephen Chan (Chief Medical Informatics Officer of Woodlands Health Campus and practicing Anaesthesiologist) shed light on how healthcare and life sciences organizations can gain access to unprecedented amounts of big data/information and translate them into actionable insights.

This will then help them to modernize their business operations and to improve the quality of care delivered to patients.

Using data to better engage patients

Dr Chan commented on how the medical landscape in Singapore has changed drastically over the years. The days whereby a patient had to wait outside a clinic and prefill a series of questionnaires before entering the consulting room with the doctor and being asked the same set of questions were long gone. In the past, “(t)ypical doctors follow a templated manner to examine and talk to the patients. It feels very textbook, it doesn’t feel like it’s customized for the patient,” he added. 

The use of big data can greatly elevate healthcare standards and forge stronger relations with patients. It is difficult to make the necessary engagements to improve the health and wellness of the general population as often healthcare providers do not have a holistic view of the lifestyles of patients. The suggestions/advice provided by providers are often not heeded by patients.

He provided an example of how adding a personal touch and providing actionable insights to the patient can improve the patient’s engagement and experience at the healthcare facility - Imagine a patient walking into the hospital and the staff proceeds to greet the patient by name although the staff has not seen the patient before. Following that, based on the person’s medical and personal records, the staff is cognizant of the patient’s purpose of visit and is able to suggest that the patient take his/her blood test first to save time or is even able to suggest some diabetic friendly products at the pharmacy based on the patient’s past searches. 

“Such good healthcare service primes the patient for the next step of care and helps the patient to become more assured that the healthcare provider knows him/her well enough, allowing them to be more open to what the doctor has to say,” said Dr Chan. 

Utilizing data beyond patient care

“Technology or more specifically interoperability platforms, artificial intelligence and machine learning changes the way that healthcare providers, life science medical device and player organizations capture and consume big patient data,” Wren explained. Technology enables healthcare organizations to have their own specific vantage points with data at the core of intelligent business collaboration. This in turn fuels smart decision making and evidence based clinical insights which leads to operational efficiency when healthcare providers are going about their daily routines. This increased operational efficiency can manifest itself in the form of better identification and prediction of undiagnosed patients to better treatment pathways and drug switching when a patient is on a certain medication. 

An integrated dashboard system such as the DXC’s Open Health Connect platform would allow healthcare providers to get a clearer overall picture of a patient’s personal records such as their electrical medical record, genetic tests and biomarkers, social media information, nutrition plans and exercise records amongst many others. The benefit of this utilization of big data extends beyond that of patients and can also greatly aid healthcare organizations as well. The proper harmonization of data can help facilitate medical research work and allow business analysts within the organization to better streamline workflow and improve revenue cycle management. 

Using data for better care outcomes

Through the use of digital biomarkers, patients are empowered and can take charge of their own health. These biomarkers provide an overall score which reflects how healthy they are and their risks of developing chronic diseases in the future. “The best digital therapeutics also enable the patient to control their own data, again creating a circle of trust, accountability and ownership as well as allowing the patients to make the choices based on their experiences. Again, we are turning the patient into an active, engaged, loyal customer”, Wren elaborated. 

The use of big data information can also be transformed into scalable AI models to enhance the quality of healthcare provided. For example, up to 30% of infections in Singapore are resistant to widely used broad spectrum antibiotics. AI models are able to review the choice and duration of antibiotic for ongoing treatments. It can then swiftly check for cultures and for the patient’s response to the antibiotic regimen. Physicians can then make the final decision to accept the AI’s medical intervention or to expose the patient to an alternative form of treatment.  

To gain on-demand access to the webinar, click here. Registration is required.