Technology investments for a healthy nation
Whether it is through using digital collaboration technology to deliver telehealth consultations to the furthest corners of the country or deploying analytics technologies to improve the flow of information in hospitals, or any number of digital health interventions, digital technologies are delivering better health outcomes and experiences across Australia.
However, we are still in the earliest days of understanding what a true digital healthcare system might look like, which is why at Cisco we are investing in numerous research programs and initiatives to accelerate the uptake of digital technology.
Cisco already has a long history of providing the latest in networking and collaboration technology to leading Australian healthcare facilities, including the Wollongong Hospital, the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, and Melbourne's Alfred Hospital.
Yet we know we are only the start of what's possible.
Examining the bigger picture
True digital healthcare means much more than simply taking existing digital processes and digitising them.
The flexibility of services built using data and digital technologies delivers incredible potential for personalisation of health services and creates the opportunity for a fundamental rethink of service delivery to put patients at the centre of processes.
This idea of patient-centric healthcare holds enormous potential for better health experiences for patients, and also for improved health outcomes.
Solving this challenge is a key reason why Cisco is supporting the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab at Melbourne's RMIT.
According to the Lab's director, Professor Vishaal Kishore, the Lab's goal is to better understand how healthcare works at a systems level and to figure out which interventions can have the greatest benefit.
"We are solving real world health problems, and we are solving those problems in an integrated way, which is bringing novel ideas and policy insights together with the mechanics that make it work," Prof Kishore said.
Much of these efforts are dedicated to creating a healthcare system that is not only robust in the face of a crisis, but which can adapt and grow stronger. One area of exploration is how different physical spaces can be transformed quickly to serve new purposes, including transforming non-health spaces into health spaces.
"Or we can – in certain circumstances – completely break the relationship between bricks and mortar and health, and truly mobilise health systems in new and dynamic ways?" Prof Kishore asks.
Prof Kishore says what makes the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab so powerful is its investment in creating different testing environments for trying out new ideas.
"Where there are many think tanks out there, but we get to be a 'do tank'," Prof Kishore said. "We are using the Cisco technology to explore different applications and different ways of making those spaces work with each other. And then Cisco – and its full ecosystem of partners – can experiment in the space and explore how this new model of health might come together.
Designing better health outcomes
Despite our best efforts to look after our health, most Australians will have to make a trip to hospital at some time in our lives. And while few of us would ever look forward to it, there is still much that can be done to improve the experience.
Designing improved outcomes is one of the key missions of the Flinders Digital Health Design Lab, a multidisciplinary group at South Australia's Flinders University, supported by Cisco.
Director and Professor of Digital Health Systems Trish Williams and her team are working to solve many of the challenges that impact the successful use of technology in a hospital environment and finding ways to use technology to create better health outcomes.
"Our research is about translating ideas into practical outcomes," Prof Williams says. "We are examining how we can help healthcare and hospitals to use digital infrastructure to solve problems and improve patient care."
One project has examined how Wi-Fi technology can be used safely in hospitals, while another is examining the linkages between technology and patient experience, by determining what the best possible patient experience might be and then asking what role technology can play in delivering that experience.
"This will lead to better experiences for patents and clinicians, and there is a link between your experience in hospital and your health outcome, which means ultimately patients will be happier and healthier," Prof Williams said.
The Lab is also examining the use of technology in virtual healthcare, including the adoption of existing home technology such as smart speakers and AI assistants.
"As we move to virtual care and shift how we deliver care, we need the medical professionals to shift along with it, away from everything having to be face-to-face and hands-on," Prof Williams says. "We need to support clinicians to embrace virtual models of care."
Conclusion
Cisco's investments in healthcare research around Australia are part of a global effort to improve the lives of over a billion people.
According to Cisco's Business Architect for Healthcare, Andrew Riley, Cisco's own research capabilities and deep relationships with different industries gives it insights into how different organisations are using technology today.
"We have visibility across the globe of so many industries and the way they are solving problems, and we can cross-pollinate different ideas from different industries and allow clever folks to solve those challenges," Riley said.
This idea has already been brought to life through the Medibus concept, which was originally developed in Germany and is now being tested in Australia in the Hunter region of NSW with support from Flinders University. The Medibus mobilises healthcare by bringing medical practitioners and facilities directly to people in remote locations, which could prove essential in the rapid rollout of future vaccination programs.
By exploring the benefits that technology can bring to healthcare, Cisco hopes to build a bridge to a better healthcare future for all.