Digitalisation in Oral Health Care
I am a trained dental hygienist, and I have also completed a vocational qualification in frontline supervision. I have now worked as a supervisor in oral health care for four years. During this time, I have seen digitalisation develop both in patient work and in supervisory work. Digitalisation is now a natural part of oral health care from both the employees’ and patients’ point of view. In my work, I use several digital systems and tools every day.
One of the most important digital systems is the patient information system. Today, digitalisation can also be seen in many small practical things that make work easier. For example, photographs taken during patient care can be transferred directly from an application to the patient information system in a secure way. AI-assisted documentation is also used in patient work, which can make documentation easier and faster.
Digitalisation has also changed the way patients use oral health care services. Patients can manage their appointments through an application, and digital appointments are also available. In addition, there is an electronic communication channel where patients can ask questions related to their treatment. This is not an urgent communication channel, and the patient receives an answer within a few days. The appointment system has also become clearer. Phone conversations can be recorded, which makes it easier to document communication and ensure quality.
In my current work as a supervisor, digitalisation is an important part of my daily work. I use a digital system for planning and monitoring resources. It can be used to monitor whether there are enough staff resources and available appointment times. Digital indicators can also be used to monitor the performance of the service and, for example, patient satisfaction. Teams and other electronic communication channels make it easier to share information with employees. Meetings and training can also be organised remotely, which saves time and makes it possible to use working time more efficiently.
Based on my own experience, digitalisation has mainly made my work easier and more efficient. It is easier to find information, and patient information is more easily available. The visibility of patient information has also improved through the Kanta services. Different phrases and AI-assisted tools make documentation easier. With the help of digital tools, we can also provide services to more patients with the same resources. I believe that the benefits of digitalisation, such as reducing errors, will become more visible in the future as new solutions develop and their use becomes more established.
However, digitalisation also has some challenges. In a large organisation, there can be many different systems, which requires good digital skills from employees. The systems do not always communicate with each other, which can cause extra work, especially in supervisory work. Continuous changes and learning to use new systems can be challenging for some employees because there are differences in digital skills between employees. Despite these challenges, I feel that digitalisation has mainly made my work easier and more efficient, and that it will have an important role in the future of oral health care.
The Future of Digitalisation
I believe that the importance of digitalisation in oral health care will continue to grow during the next 5–10 years. In particular, the use of artificial intelligence will probably increase. AI is already being used in primary health care, for example, in a function that can identify patients who may have a higher risk of different health problems based on their health information. Similar solutions could also be used in oral health care in the future. In this type of activity, data protection and legislation are very important, and the use of AI requires appropriate procedures and permissions.
Digital appointments will also continue to increase. They are already used quite a lot, so they are no longer only a future possibility. Different digital care pathways will also become more common. Patients can already complete a digital care pathway independently, for example, to improve their own care or self-care. Automatic and AI-assisted documentation will also continue to develop.
AI and other digital solutions can free up employees’ time for actual patient care in the future. For example, less time is needed for documentation, employees have more time for treating and meeting patients. This can also improve access to services because more patients may be served during the same working hours. In supervisory work, digitalisation can make it easier to find and process information. For example, documents can be transferred quickly electronically, which means that there is less need for paper documents.
I believe that digitalisation will also change people’s job descriptions. It may reduce some tasks, but at the same time, new tasks and new ways of working will develop. Employees will probably need additional training as services and ways of working change. Employees will need to continuously learn new things and maintain their digital skills. The use of AI will also require new skills. Employees need to be able to critically evaluate information produced by AI. In my opinion, the ability and willingness to learn new things and keep up with change will become even more important in the future. Resistance to change does not help when development continues anyway.
From the patient’s point of view, digitalisation can make using services easier. Appointments, communication, reminders and following personal information can be managed digitally. Most oral health care appointments cannot be replaced by digital services. For example, in orthodontic treatment, some follow-up appointments could possibly be carried out as digital appointments in the future. This was already tested in some wellbeing services counties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I also see many possibilities for digitalisation in supervisory work. In the future, digital systems could help even more with predicting staff needs, planning appointment times, monitoring the number of patients and the demand for services, and providing information to support decision-making. This could free supervisors from some administrative tasks and give them more time for communication with employees, frontline supervision and developing the work.
Overall, I am positive about the future of digitalisation. I believe that it can improve services and make work easier. However, there will certainly also be challenges during this process. For some employees, continuously changing systems and new ways of working can be a major challenge, while for others the change may feel more natural. However, I believe that the opportunities of digitalisation are greater than the challenges it brings, when both employees and patients are given enough support and opportunities to learn how to use new digital services.
The Risks of an Open Digital Society and GDPR
Digitalisation brings many benefits, but it also involves different risks. One of the most significant risks is data breaches and personal information falling into the wrong hands. In healthcare, the proper handling of patient information is especially important because it is sensitive and confidential information. Data must be handled carefully and only for the purpose for which it was collected.
As digital services increase, it is also important to remember that they are not suitable for everyone. Not all patients have the same abilities to use digital services. Some patients need more guidance and support so that they can learn to use and benefit from the services available. This should be considered when planning services and developing service structures. Not all services can be transferred entirely to digital channels.
The GDPR is particularly visible in my work through the handling of patient information. Patients must be identified appropriately, and patient information must be handled securely and carefully. Information must not be shared with the wrong people, and patient information is confidential. Information may only be shared when it is related to the patient’s care and is necessary for the people involved in that care. The patient’s consent must also be considered, for example, when AI-assisted documentation is used. Consent must be recorded clearly. In all activities, the safe handling of patient information, transparency and respecting the patient’s wishes are especially important.
Our organisation regularly provides training on data protection and the use of artificial intelligence. The aim of this training is to ensure that employees understand their responsibilities related to data protection and know how to handle information safely, also when using new digital tools. Sensitive information is not sent by ordinary email. When necessary, encrypted email is used instead. Patient information is handled in the patient information system, where the processing of information can be monitored and access rights can be limited.
I consider the GDPR to be an essential and positive thing for everyone, including patients. Every person has the right to privacy regarding their personal information and to have their information handled appropriately. However, data protection can sometimes create extra work and make it more difficult to share information between employees or different systems. Despite this, patient safety and the correct handling of information must always remain the highest priorities.
My Experience with ChatGPT
I asked ChatGPT three questions about digitalisation in oral health care:
- What are the five biggest changes that digitalisation has brought to oral health care during the last 10 years?
- What are the five biggest challenges?
- What are the main challenges of using 3D intraoral scanning in orthodontics and prosthetics compared to, for example, plaster models?
The answers to the first two, more general questions were good and mostly correct. However, you need to know what has happened in oral health care during this time to be able to evaluate whether the answers are correct and whether they describe the most important changes. The answer to the last, more specific question was also good. However, it did not include enough of the practical problems that can be seen in everyday work, such as problems with the technology, scanning and transferring digital information between different systems. These are important issues in everyday work.
I think AI is a very useful tool and will be an important tool in the future. However, the user must always be critical when using AI. In the end, the user is responsible for how they use and evaluate the information they receive.
Self-Evaluation: What I Have Learned
I did not learn anything completely new or major during this task, but it was a helpful refresher on things I already knew. The revision was useful because it reminded me how widely digitalisation affects oral health care and how important it is to keep up with its development.
One thing that especially stayed in my mind was the importance of training and guidance for employees. It is important to invest in good training so that employees have the skills to use digital services correctly, efficiently and safely. Digitalisation is not useful if users do not have enough knowledge to use it safely.
In the future, I should learn more about the possibilities of artificial intelligence in oral health care and how new digital services and technologies can be used safely and effectively. It is also important to keep improving my knowledge of data security and data protection because their importance will continue to grow as digitalisation increases.
I found many interesting perspectives and ideas in my fellow students’ articles. I commented on two articles that I found especially interesting and that gave me some new perspectives on the topic.
Here are the two articles I commented on: