Digital health transformation reduces friction for better clinical outcomes
The Dominican Republic is compelled to move towards a digital health transformation in order to reduce friction on its services, give a better patient experience, and provide a better clinical outcome.
“Less friction translates to a better clinical outcome and it all starts with the digitalization of the medical record and the day-to-day operational processes of the healthcare providers”, said Fedor Vidal, CEO and managing partner of Arium Salud Digital, and a world expert in health technology and business.
Vidal spoke at the 5th International Health and Wellness Tourism Congress, where he delivered the conference Challenges of Innovation and Digital Transformation of the Health Sector to industry leaders in travel, tourism, health, and representatives of hospitals, banking, and the public sector.
At the event, he mentioned that the medical travel market responds to three variables, which are the perception of the destination, the purchasing power of the consumer, and technology.
On the latter, the digital health expert, who served as head of information technology (CIO) for Johns Hopkins Medicine International, and led the global technology strategy, pointed out the benefits of the digital transformation in the healthcare sector:
- Reduced friction
The implementation of automatized processes saves time and effort for the health system.
- Standard base on protocols
Means better practices and diagnoses from scientific evidence.
- Normalization of language
Relates to clinical coding and makes the country a more attractive destination
- Clinical outcome assessment (COA)
Is a measure that describes and reflects how a patient does and manages himself after an intervention. All international destinations have been successful because they have incorporated the COA.
- Interoperability
Connects all the healthcare actors so they can exchange information and data.
- Satisfaction
A digital health transformation makes sure that all actors involved – patients, staff, doctors, insurers, and others – are satisfied.
Vidal highlighted that there is no way to improve something that cannot be measured and thus he also pointed out the opportunities that the Dominican Republic needs to work on when it comes to digital health:
- Move from paper to a digital with electronic medical record
- Automatize the interaction between the providers and payers
- Digitalize all medical protocols.
- Replace what’s obsolete without affecting operations
- Adopt world standards of clinical coding and billing.
- Adequate the legislature and control norms to the new reality of digitalization
- Education so that providers understand how these digital tools improve the health system
- Incorporate digital health into the university curriculums
- Adoption of quality seals and accreditation competency
- Put the patient at the center when the health centers’ infrastructure is developed.
About Arium Salud Digital
Arium Health is an information technology services company whose main objective is the commercialization of information systems for the health sector and promotes the raising of quality standards in the provision of health services in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The company, led by Fedor Vidal, celebrated its 1st Latin American Digital Health Congress in 2019 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in an event that served as a scenario to share, update and generate knowledge networks and exchange of good practices, as well as the improvement of processes that allow responding adequately to the present and future needs of the sector, promoting sustainability of the health system.