Digitalization is everywhere and no field of science can be completely independent of it – nor should it be. Digitalization is now an integral part of our daily lives, both at home and at work. It is important that people understand its benefits and risks. By being aware of the risks and taking steps to avoid them, digitalization can bring a great deal of contentment and richness to our lives.
I work in the healthcare industry and while getting to know the topic, a few things came to mind based on my own experiences:
- The volume of data in the healthcare industry has increased significantly.
The healthcare industry is a really broad field, and it contains a lot of knowledge and expertise from different areas and different professional groups such as nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and others. The amount of information that can be utilized in the field of health care is enormous, and fortunately, searching for and accessing information has become easier and faster in recent times. Professionals in the field have access to important information sources and researched data. However, printed information in books may become outdated quickly in certain areas, leading to electronic information sources almost entirely replacing printed ones. With a large amount of recorded and archived patient data available, it is crucial that job orientation includes training on how to search for information from reliable sources, store it securely, and use it effectively.
- The use of data may be perceived as challenging in everyday work within the healthcare industry – there is no time for development work.
Unfortunately, the healthcare industry currently faces shortages in several areas, such as finances and staffing. With a limited number of employees, our focus in daily work shifts away from secondary tasks like development work and towards essential patient care, of course. However, without opportunities for education, research, and development work, we cannot fully take advantage of digitalization and the benefits offered by various types of data. This creates a negative cycle – digitalization could make our work easier, but with limited time, the learning can feel overwhelming.
- The healthcare industry requires new ways of working, but the attitudes are old-fashioned.
As mentioned earlier, digitalization has already brought significant benefits to the healthcare industry, making everyday work more efficient and freeing up resources for other tasks. However, compared to other industries, there seems to be more resistance to change among nurses in particular. Although it may be a generalization, I think that younger nurses and doctors tend to embrace new technology and programs better while some old-school nurses may believe that traditional methods, such as hand-written patient records, are better. Additionally, I have encountered a negative attitude towards information security-related activities. Many view these activities as burden and time-consuming, hindering productivity.
- How can we ensure healthcare information security and privacy in the future, as artificial intelligence and digital devices continue to collect more information about us?
Data security and privacy are extremely important topics, especially when dealing with sensitive information. As healthcare professionals, we are committed to maintaining confidentiality and handling patient data securely. The programs used in the healthcare industry are well-protected, and it is the responsibility of every employee to ensure that data is not accessed by unauthorized individuals. If I remember correctly, for example in 2018 when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation came into force, all of our employees had to take a data security related course and exam, and I think the course is still mandatory for new employees. However, from time to time, there are unfortunate cases where patient records are accessed without a valid treatment relationship, or a significant amount of patient data is obtained through criminal activities (such as the Vastaamo case). Many of us carry digital devices such as phones or smartwatches while working. It is already known that these devices constantly collect information about us, such as location and speech data. Thus, how can we ensure data security and privacy as digitalization continues to develop? Will our health information be kept private in the future?
- Digitization will be a part of healthcare in the future as well, but how do we take advantage of it?
Digitalization and artificial intelligence are here to stay, but how can we best utilize them in the future? I hope that a solution to the healthcare resource problems will be found, which would leave more time for development work and the implementation of versatile digitalization in workplaces. In my own work, I still have to do statistics largely by hand, for example. I would hope that in the future, I would be able to use a tool that would assist me more in making statistics and would be able, based on the collected information, to forecast and predict what will happen on the healthcare front in the future – such as the occurrence of different infectious diseases or hospital infections.
Self evaluation
The biggest thought I had while doing the assignment was how diverse and broad the concept of digitalization actually is. I have mainly become familiar with its development in the healthcare industry, but that is only one area – not to mention everyone’s personal and private life. During the assignment, I learned to think more broadly and consider how I could make more use of digitalization in different everyday situations or while working. I would still like to learn more about the operating models, robotics, and programs that already exist in different areas of healthcare, and to know what professionals think about their use. I am also interested in knowing how much research has been done on their benefits and what the research results say.
Reply on Kaisa’s site: https://blogi.savonia.fi/kaisamarikoponen/digi-society/
“Hello,
you have pointed out many good things about digitization and its future in your text. In the end of your text, you wrote that “digitalization has a lot of good things, but also negative things and risks” and I agree with that. However, I was left thinking that there is not going back with digitalization, because so many things in the health care industry have already relied on digitalization – and that is only a good thing in my opinion. We just have to learn to live with the negative sides and risks as well and try to fix things one at a time.”
Reply on Tanja’s site: https://blogi.savonia.fi/lifeofmine/digi-society/
I related well to what you wrote, that during your youth there has been a huge digital leap in many areas and this “leap” just seems to go on and on. I also work in the healthcare industry myself and have seen the increase in digitization there as well. Nowdays, no one working in the health care field could do their job without the help of digitization – at least the patient recording is done digitally. I personally consider it important that digitalization develops in our industry and that we get help from it, for example, in a difficult labor shortage, but I still share your concern that we must remember who we are taking care of and what we are working for – people.