Doctor–patient relationship needs to be physical
While technology has advanced to a stage today where doctors and patients are connected via a technologically developed device, it lacks the kind of physical relationship between the two. Technology in that kind of a remote relationship is helpful in some respects in terms of triaging patients, says Prof. James Batchelor, Clinical Informatics and Healthcare Innovation Director, from the University of Southampton in the UK.
Delegates at the conference. Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi.
Speaking to the Business Times on the sidelines of the launch of the 10th Biennial Conference of the Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics (APAMI) 2018 held at the Cinnamon Grand in Colombo on Tuesday, he said that while medicine should be a connected relationship, as doctors and nurses are really important for a patient, the relationship between the two should be a physical one.
A doctor must examine a patient physically and mentally where certain symptoms of the patient will not be felt by the doctor whatsoever over the technological device.
“Technology in that kind of a remote relationship is helpful in some respect in terms of triaging patients,” he added.
In hospital systems triaging means the first stage on arrival at the emergency department is assessment by the hospital triage nurse. This nurse will evaluate the patient’s condition, as well as any changes, and will determine their priority for admission to the emergency department and also for treatment. “It needs to be operated in a model which allows a fair role that adds value to the system. This lacks the kind of personal relationship a patient will have with a doctor by physically being in front of him or her,” Mr. Batchelor pointed out.
He also stated that the future of healthcare is going to be very interesting while technology is supporting the sector from strength to strength. Technology is helping advance in the biomedical research to understand the human behavioral patterns allowing treating patients with more accurate measurements. Doctors can be specific about how they treat and look after the patients. Today medicines come in different shapes and sizes and there are personalised medicines through various new technologies.
Adapting to the new technology in the medical industry is a long term investment, he stressed. There are biomedical staff who don’t want to adapt to new technology. If technology is delivered in the correct way, it becomes very simple to use and adds value to their day-to-day work. Adoption is all about simplicity and making application of technology of value to them as an individual in their treatment and care of patients, stated Mr. Batchelor.
He noted that Sri Lanka is at the forefront in terms of technology in the biomedical industry. As a developing country Sri Lanka has taken vast measures to adapt to new technology and the country is a real innovation hub for this type of working development.