V I EWPO I NT The third wave of telehealth CHANDE R DAMODARAN : B R I L L I O Technologies like digital twins have the potential to revolutionise healthcare to benefit both practitioners and patients The affordability and accessibility of healthcare continue to be major concerns for millions of people around the world, even in some of the most developed countries. From modernising business models to creating remote healthcare options, finding solutions that could alleviate many of the healthcare challenges should be a top priority for the public and private sectors alike. With the rise and rapid development of the metaverse, digital twins and artificial intelligence (AI), new technologies are appearing faster than ever before and are pushing companies to reconsider the way they function. For healthcare and life sciences, many of these new technologies have the potential to bring real benefits to both patients and practitioners, as well as to medical facilities and research institutions. This is all part of a growing movement toward what technology and healthcare experts are calling the ‘third wave of telehealth’. The first and second waves were motivated by the available technologies at the time. The first wave was limited to video chats and online communication, while the second wave was focused on connecting health applications to wearables and select medical equipment, largely in response to the pandemic. With the advent of this third iteration, experts are looking at new AI-driven technologies that could, for example, diagnose conditions earlier, better determine the needs of specific populations, and enable stronger patient-doctor engagement. Cloud providers like Microsoft have created managed service offerings such as Azure Digital Twins, which could model what-if scenarios that could serve to reduce risk during procedures and when prescribing medication. Using real-world data from patients, these virtual simulations of patients can mimic the outcomes of a particular course of treatment without any lasting consequences. For both practitioners and patients, this could be a game-changer that not only mitigates human error-related scenarios but could also potentially save lives. Technologies like digital twins are transformative in enabling end-to-end digitalisation, embracing environmental, social and governance frameworks, while improving operational efficiency by enabling proactive and data-driven decision-making. At Brillio, our teams are focused on turning disruption into competitive advantage and developing forward-thinking, real-world technology to meet the growing public demand for better, more efficient healthcare. Chander Damodaran is chief technology officer at Brillio “Experts are now looking at new AI-driven technologies that could diagnose conditions earlier and enable stronger patient-doctor engagement” 189 PUB L I C S E C TOR
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