Shaping the future of digital technology in health and social care
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Maguire, David, author Honeyman, Matthew, author Fenney, Deborah, author Jabbal, Joni, author
- Contributor(s):
- King's Fund (London, England), issuing body.
- Publication:
- [London, England] : The King's Fund, April 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Data Collection -- methods Delivery of Health Care -- methods Digital Technology Social Support United Kingdom
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- (1) The potential of digital technology to transform the health and social care system has still not been realised, though the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a rapid shift towards the remote delivery of care through online technologies. (2) We conducted a review of high-quality evidence for how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones, wearable devices and the internet of things are being used within care settings around the world, supported by a series of expert interviews. (3) This research was mostly conducted pre-pandemic and is supplemented by our own evidence-gathering on how digital technology has been used during the pandemic, in England in particular. (4) Although there is evidence that these tools have potential and can be used to support staff and patients with specific tasks (such as the use of AI in diagnostic testing or wearables in behaviour change), there are large gaps in the evidence base. (5) For the health and social care sector to make the most of emerging technologies, there need to be fundamental changes in how new tools are evaluated and supported during implementation. (6) More evidence is needed on a range of factors, including the cost effectiveness of such tools, the groups best suited to using these interventions, the effects of digital inequalities on access, and the impact of tools that use digital technologies on outcomes. (7) The public must also become a key stakeholder and partner with the health and social care sector as people's data becomes a source of potential financial gain to the sector and private partners through the development of products built using patient data, in addition to helping the sector understand the impact of digital inequalities. (8) Staff in the system and third-party suppliers need to be supported to improve implementation and design while building up the level of analytical skills throughout the health and care workforce. (9) National leadership in this area is often reshuffled, with a lack of clear responsibility in many aspects of implementation or strategy-setting compounding issues with delivery of funding to the front line. (10) Local leaders need support to develop change management and analytical skills as well as how best to support to around how best to leverage the opportunities provided by digital technology to improve care for their populations. (11) We outline three potential future scenarios for the health and care sector with regard to digital technology: a 'techlash' against new tools resulting from a loss of trust in how patient data is used; a continuation of the uneven spread of digital technology across the health and social care sector, with low-quality evidence stifling uptake of new tools; and a more optimistic view, where the support and quality of evidence we outline throughout this report develops within the sector and change happens at scale and speed. (12) The decisions taken in the next few years will have a huge effect on how the health and social care system is transformed. The Covid-19 pandemic has created a huge set of pressures on the system while it is undergoing a significant transformation--with the establishment of integrated care systems (ICSs) as statutory bodies over the next 12 months marking a fundamental change to how health and care organisations make decisions and exchange information. We hope this report will help leaders within the sector to meet those new challenges and transform the care they provide.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (84 pages))
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918299579606676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918299579606676