Amber Hickman |
Microsoft has helped healthcare professionals in Slovakia to create a digital hospital to showcase how new technologies can be used to improve the patient experience.
The digital hospital provides an interactive tour of various healthcare services, with clickable areas that provide information about the technologies that are assisting with diagnoses, treatment, care and administration in hospitals.
“The digitalisation of healthcare is experiencing an unprecedented boom around the world,” said Antonín Hlavinka, deputy head of information technology at the Olomouc University Hospital. “The Digital Hospitals project should show precisely the overcoming of barriers and the possible change of rigid processes using modern technologies.”
Some of the technology featured in the digital hospital is already used in real hospitals, including the Aireen Device, which leverages artificial intelligence to analyse images of a patient’s retina, allowing for non-invasive examinations with quick results. Digital technologies can also be used to deliver remote consultations, enable surgeons to familiarise themselves with operational procedures, training paramedics, enhancing communication, improve the patient triage processes, and more. Digitisation and cloud-based solutions can also aid hospital administration staff by reducing paperwork, enabling remote bed supervision and enhancing cybersecurity.
“It is necessary to reduce the administrative burden on medical personnel and to automate operations,” said Lenka Axlerová, public sector leader at Microsoft Czech Republic. “The goal of the Digital Hospital is to show clearly and in one place what solutions are already available to hospitals. Each healthcare facility can choose solutions exactly according to its own needs and capabilities.”