The global healthcare ecosystem demands a shift in the approach to patient care. Studies have shown that when hospital patients do not receive timely and consistent personal care from nursing staff, their state of mind is negatively affected, increasing their recovery time.
Understandably, providing one-to-one care for patients around the clock in healthcare facilities where staff, especially nurses, are already overloaded is only feasible if we can find a way for technology to give back some of their time.
The solution to the persistent problem of timely patient intervention is permitting data-driven video technology to take over some of the routine tasks and procedures that nurses are habitually burdened with, thus allowing them more direct contact time with patients.
Governments and healthcare entities in several countries across the globe are ramping up programmes to digitise the healthcare sector, especially taking advantage of the tremendous potential of data-driven video technology in addressing healthcare facilities’ need to provide quality one-to-one care for patients.
Below are three examples that illustrate how data-driven video technology can help shape the future of the healthcare sector while benefiting both patients and healthcare staff:
Ticking off routine tasks through necessary alerts
Data-driven video technology allows nurses to see all patients from a single location. Instead of routinely checking in on patients, when someone needs help, they can go directly to that patient.
Pre- and post-surgery assistance
Hospital patients requiring surgery generally use elevators when going from their room to the surgery floor. As such, they and their accompanying hospital staff invariably experience delays on the way because of waiting time as the elevator travels to their floor.
With data-driven video technology, cameras can detect a surgical bed approaching an elevator. The video system can autonomously and temporarily disable call button functionality on all other floors, sending the elevator directly to the floor where the patient is waiting and from there to the surgical floor.
After surgery, when the patient is in the recovery room, nurses regularly open and close the door of a post-surgery patient to check on their medical status, especially at night, which can severely disrupt their sleep and prolong their recovery period. In such a scenario, video technology can permit nurses to keep a vigilant eye on the patient from a single location, thus allowing optimum patient rest and aiding recovery.
Safeguarding patients and staff
Data-driven video technology coupled with intelligent sound analysis can alert staff if a patient becomes verbally aggressive or physically violent in a hospital room. Similarly, the nursing staff can use the two-way audio communication feature on cameras to communicate directly with a patient intent on self-harm, calming the patient while assuring that help is on the way.
Patients’ privacy protection
Data-driven video technology has the potential to benefit the healthcare industry in various ways greatly, but it is important to ensure that the patient’s data and privacy are protected. To prevent misuse of patients’ video footage, many hospitals use live video feeds that blur patients’ faces and do not allow for recording.
However, as video technology becomes more prevalent in healthcare, legislation is needed to protect patient’s privacy and ensure ethical use. This requires cooperation between video technology stakeholders and policymakers to promote implementing innovative video technology in healthcare without compromising patient privacy. Clear guidelines must also be established for healthcare facilities to follow, as most hospital staff are not legal experts.
On-par legislation and innovation
With bureaucracy sometimes prone to crimping technical innovation and digital transformation, it is essential to strike a balance between legislation and innovation while also considering people’s right to feel safe and comfortable with the way technology is used.
Apart from their quest to operate freely in the market, tech leaders, on the one hand, must also endorse meaningful regulations to govern the tech industry. On the other hand, policymakers must work in tandem with tech leaders when enacting the legislation.
The way forward
Data-driven video technology abounds with many opportunities for the future healthcare industry. Yet, it is essential to balance the advantages that data-driven video technology delivers to healthcare with patients’ rights to privacy. Tech companies, the healthcare industry, and policymakers must collaborate across the board on a suitable legislative mechanism that hastens innovation while equally safeguarding patients’ privacy rights.
Data-driven video technology is poised to transform the future of healthcare for the better. For patients and staff to accept this, we must use this unique technology the right way – responsibly.