The health emergency experienced over the last two years has accelerated the process of digitisation of healthcare and is now increasingly referred to as ‘connected healthcare’. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the use and spread of the new intelligent medicine, which is closer to the needs of the community and able to make greater and more effective use of the Internet infrastructure. The new frontier is to offer the community a new diagnostic and methodological horizon in the administration of treatment and care, creating a digital network that connects hospital, territory and the patient’s home.

THE ADVANTAGES OF CONNECTED HEALTHCARE

Doctors and healthcare professionals are now at the centre of a major revolution: the development of a new healthcare no longer depends solely on the growth of the sector, but also on the acquisition of new technological skills to support operators and the entire personal care sector.

One of the most interesting measures is ‘connected health’ for the chronically ill, whose problems are becoming increasingly central. According to the WHO, cardiovascular diseases (17.5 million deaths per year), cancer (7.6 million), chronic respiratory diseases (over 4 million) and diabetes (over 1 million) are among the most common chronic diseases with high mortality rates.

Among cardiovascular diseases, untreated hypertension is one of the main risk factors for the development of diseases such as atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, carotid arteries, renal arteries and lower limbs. However, it could be monitored remotely with relative ease. It is estimated that by 2025 the number of people with hypertension will reach 1.5 billion (almost 30% of the population), but if connected health systems could constantly monitor patients remotely, the death rate (currently 14%) could be reduced and the chronicity of the disease and related disabilities avoided.

Telemedicine can therefore be a valuable support to follow even less serious patients and prevent them from becoming chronic, with positive effects for both the community and the health system.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

In addition to ‘connected health’, artificial intelligence can be another important aid to the development of a new health system. Implementing the technological aspect by favouring greater opportunities for data exchange by exploiting the new knowledge available – artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, robotics, cloud, analytics, big data, biomedical engineering – will make it possible to develop new treatments and improve the efficiency of the healthcare system.

At the heart of the AI healthcare approach will be the technology needed for the continuous collection and exchange of remote health information, a continuous flow of data sent from patient devices to a secure database accessed only by eligible medical staff and stakeholders. The collection and continuous exchange of data between doctors and operators will make it possible to know the detailed anamnesis and have updates, even in real time, on the state of the patient, keeping the clinical situation and the validity of the prescribed treatment constantly under control. It will also increase patient autonomy by eliminating, for example, the need for continuous face-to-face medical visits.

TELEMEDICINE

Telemedicine, in the clinical cases envisaged, can represent a significant improvement in the quality of life for all patients who would in fact be rendered autonomous by encouraging self-management. Through the constant development of telemedicine, a virtuous integrated network between hospital-territory-home would be activated, enabling patients to interact remotely with the various professional figures – general practitioners, paediatricians, nurses, specialists, pharmacists – while remaining in direct contact with professionals and benefiting from immediate, personalised support. Constant activation of telemedicine, which comes under the heading of ‘connected healthcare’, would increase the potential effectiveness of therapies, which are constantly monitored, and reduce the costs of managing the healthcare operating machine by encouraging greater and better patient involvement in the dedicated dynamics. The aim is to create a network that streamlines and simplifies the daily life of patients and the work of operators, improving the quality of life of people and healthcare professionals.