Focus on the patient is the central pillar of the digital transformation in health!

Abstract

Focus on the patient is the central pillar of the digital transformation in health! In 1903, the famous inventor Thomas Edison declared, in one of his many predictions about the future, that "the doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease". He saw a long way! This challenge to health is no surprise to some of us, yet still leaves us perplexed-we must persistently pursue the strategy of disease prevention rather than simply reacting to the treatment of those illnesses which occur and can be avoided. The perfect storm of factors that together make our current health services inaccessible and unsustainable is well known and well understood, given the number of studies published on the subject. Economic, epidemiological and demographic changes mean that the 'more of the same' formula is no longer able to deal with the many serious problems faced by health services in the 21st century 1. Rising health care costs, consumer expectations, new technologies and increasing globalization have placed huge pressure on the health sector, forcing it to align more closely with the economic constraints that every country suffers. Established long-term primary, secondary and tertiary care systems are increasingly unable to respond to the challenges arising from aging populations, as well as the shift in the burden of diseases to chronic conditions, such as diabetes and musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases.