Digitalization in healthcare and what it is in the future.

Digitization has always been part of my everyday life. In elementary school, we already practiced using the ten-finger system at school. We have also been able to use the internet at school to search for information for group work. Digitization has always been very interesting to me and I spent a lot of time in the online world in my youth. The first smartphones came when I was in middle school. Back then, using the internet on a phone was expensive and you couldn’t use a phone to access the internet.

I started my studies to become a nurse in 2011. At that time, there was a lot of talk about patient information systems at school. Their use was taught at school in a training environment and on-the-job training. Even though patient information systems had already come to most of the places, there was still one place in Sonkajärvi where customers were written in a notebook by hand. The world has become digitized quickly. I have also worked in home care. That’s where digitization was visible. In home care, remote receptions between doctors and patients are used, as well as visits by a nurse remotely via a tablet. In home care, the patients’ circadian rhythm was monitored with a wrist watch, and a door alarm was installed on the door of the demented client. The distribution of the medicines took place with the help of a robot, which gave the medicines at a certain time of the day in a dose distribution bag.

In the future, it will be possible to monitor basic vital functions more reliably at home. After all, nowadays there is already an Oura ring whose data is considered reliable by doctors. Smartwatches also have EKG, heart rate and at least sleep monitoring.

In the future, artificial intelligence will be used to develop better treatment devices. They will probably be smaller and thus easier to move from patient to patient. I believe that artificial intelligence will bring something new to the training of nursing staff. Training takes place more online and simulations can be done from home. Creating treatment situations virtually will be new and exciting.

While doing this task, I came up with topics for the development of digitalization on the somatic side, but not on the psychiatric side where I work now. It is possible to hold doctor’s appointments remotely with us, but it is difficult to digitize the rest of the department’s operations. Of course the department uses various online tools in nursing situations. Maybe in the future we will have a room where you can start a caring group from the saved files.

Risks of digitalization

Digitization is something that affects all members of society. If digitization is delayed or done poorly, it affects the work of the company’s employees by making it difficult and slow. This also has a big impact on people’s well-being if digitization is delayed or done poorly. In both cases, it can also be expensive. Digital, flexible online working requires reliable identification of the user. For this reason, information security matters should be studied carefully and everyone should make sure that passwords are up-to-date. Those who provide the information and those who process the information should take the issue seriously, as a data breach has serious consequences in both cases. Digitization is associated with the threat of losing jobs. So far this threat has remained imaginary. Changes and developments in digitization have so far increased jobs. In the future, the amount of work will probably decrease when machines do monotonous and mechanical work. Then people can be trained for more productive and meaningful work.

Digita­li­saa­tion riskit ja uhat

GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation is a law regulating the processing of personal data, which began to be applied in EU countries in the spring of 2018.

The regulation ensures a person’s right to the protection of personal data and thus privacy is also realized in the digital age. The goal is to try to respond to the challenges of rapid technological development, to strengthen people’s right to control their own personal data, and to establish rules for the free movement of personal data within the EU. The register has introduced new tasks and responsibilities for the controller and personal data processors. The regulation has also introduced new rights for the data subject. The regulation states when, how and by whom personal data may be processed.

https://www.kuntaliitto.fi/yleiskirjeet/2017/yleinen-tietosuoja-asetus

I think the data protection regulation is a positive thing. In this way, rights have been obtained to process people’s personal data. I think it is important that everyone’s personal information is safe and that only the right people can access it. I also think it’s great that a person can request information about themselves if necessary and can see e.g. on the healthcare who has processed the data. In my work I handle patient data every day and reviewing the data protection regulation as required by the employer is familiar to me.

Self evaluation

The data protection setting itself is familiar to me. In my work in health care, I handle patient data on a daily basis, so I think the data protection regulation is pretty well under control. The role of the registrar in the regulation is more foreign to me. In any case, IT matters have been easy to understand for me since childhood and I have been good at them. At my job I am a computer equvalent who helps others with IT problems. I am also responsible for the patient information system. I think this assignment was a good refresher.

Blogs I have commented on:

DIGI SOCIETY
DIGI SOCIETY