Abstract

More than 8.2 billion Internet-connected audio/video devices are now installed worldwide, an average of 1.1 devices for every individual. Digital technologies that use voice, data, text, imaging and video now bridge the distance between patients, local health workers, and specialized medical professionals. This infrastructure enables new and innovative ways to understand and record patient vitals such as blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, heart rate, temperature, and provides the technology for people to communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Communication, collaboration, and coordination, are at the heart of keeping populations healthy, enabling shared decisionmaking and fostering an environment where a patient’s values, personal circumstances, lifestyle and preferences are foremost. In the EU countries, in the United States, Canada, South America, and, in all of the underdeveloped nations of the world, there is an extreme shortage of physicians. This puts public health at risk, as we experienced during the pandemic. One way to help fill the gap, is to empower patients with digital technology. This presentation will focus on the tools and enabling technologies that allow individuals to manage and monitor their care, including: electronic health records, patient portals, mobile devices, short text-enabled message systems (SMS wearables, robotics, and interactive telehealth that fosters remote sessions with healthcare providers for quick consults, exams and even remote surgical procedures. For example, digital apps that remind patients to adhere to and remember to take medications at the right time and in the right amount, ensure that there will be fewer visits to the doctor and the ER. Other digital tools help patients manage their care, such as watches that monitor heart rates, and blood pressure using a sensor that rests against an artery in the wrist and detects the shape of the pressure wave as blood flows through it. These cutting- edge advances are just the beginning of technologies that will empower patients and change healthcare forever.