Last call for hospital directors to take advantage of digital mobility funds

The submission of applications for the announced competition under the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment 2021-2027 on digital transformation of health care was extended in late April by the Health Minister until May 29.

Why is this competition important? Because our hospitals are lagging behind the West or even Hungary in this regard, our interviewees say. - This is due to years of delay in the use of technology in hospitals to improve the organization of the work of medical personnel and the lack of funds for this. When going into debt, hospitals have primarily focused on statutory goals and have necessarily attached less importance to investments in IT networks, software, cyber security or mobile digital devices. Although not everywhere, as there are examples of innovative directors, says Jacek Żurowski, regional director in this part of Europe, at Zebra Technologies, an international giant in innovative digital and automatic identification solutions, hardware and software.

Worst in districts

How bad is it? Dir. Żurowski points out that, for example, mobile devices for recording medical activities have less than 1/3 of hospitals in Poland. In turn, Czeslaw Ducki, director of the Mazovian Specialized Health Center in Pruszkow - estimates that less than half of the facilities have them. - Tracking a patient from entry to exit, with the help of a bar-coded wristband, is limping along in Polish hospitals. It is still not a standard, especially in county facilities," adds Michal Kanownik, CEO of Cyfrowa Polska. In small facilities, it's even a rarity.

Interviewees quite agree that the smaller the hospital, the worse it is. The best situation is in large, specialized, clinical facilities, the worst - in county ones.

Prof. Jaroslaw Fedorowski, president of the Polish Federation of Hospitals, admits that many elements of modern technology are missing. - Scanning barcode wristbands on patients' hands is in many places, but there could be more of it, he believes. But at the same time he points out that we have nothing to be ashamed of. - Our facilities are more digital than in Germany, for example, he argues.

Most needed

What would our hospitals benefit most from mobile digitization? Jacek Żurowski lists 3 groups:

• Recording medical activities thanks to barcodes on the patient's hand. Scanning the barcodes reduces bureaucracy, because each time a patient is treated there is no need to paste in data on who did what and why. It is possible to enter data on the procedure or medication administered already at the patient's bedside. After scanning the code, the system records everything: what dose, when, etc.
• Improved communication in mobile technologies - specialized and dedicated tablets, medical smartphones equipped with a hygienic coating. - All analytics can be carried in this, you don't have to write something down in a notebook or go to a computer to check something. This also improves communication, according to our research by about 50%. Of course, smartphones are also used for communication between employees," notes Director Zhurowski.
• Big database - an analytical tool important for the director, accountant. Those in real time can see through it what is happening in the hospital, what treatments, operations, services to invoice to the National Health Service, monitor drug stocks and reduce their losses, etc.

Benefits many, but you need to invest with your head

- These technologies have been in hospitals in the US and EU for 15 years. Thanks to them, the medic has more time for the patient - this is very important (...) So in the same time he can serve more patients," assures Dr. Zhurowski.

Our interviewees describe a much wider range of benefits achieved from mobile digitization devices:

• They reduce medical errors, and that's according to studies in Poland, about 6 deaths a day;
• Reduce losses from expired drugs. According to a U.S. study published by McKinsey, a hospital in the U.S. loses between $1.1 million and $1.7 million annually on this account;
• They reduce the bane of medics - bureaucratic work. A doctor or nurse has the ability to simply and quickly record bedside activities - by scanning barcodes.
• Thanks to the aforementioned, the cost of operating the facilities is also reduced.

According to Zebra's 2022 Hospital Vision Survey, thanks to mobile technologies:

• 55% of hospitals indicate a lower cost of patient treatment;
• 72% are convinced of the higher level of this service;
• 61% of nurses report fewer medication errors.

Michal Kanownik of Digital Poland argues that the facility will also benefit from equipping not only materials, inventory, but also hospital equipment - beds, chairs, etc. - with barcodes. - This will allow the hospital to better manage what it uses and optimize its purchases and resources at the hospital, M. Kanownik explains.

Prof. Fedorowski believes that mobile digitization systems are not a panacea for everything - it is difficult to view diagnostic imaging studies on smartphones, for example. - The use of these technologies should be balanced," he stresses. He believes that our hospitals lack speech recognition systems - to take quick notes - and that 4-5 major hospital systems generate the challenge of integrating new digitization elements into them. We also lack good hardware. - We need, for example, high-resolution screens, modern keyboards, microphones with speech recognition systems, biometric recognition devices to enter the system... - he lists. He admits that company-issued, high-quality smartphones, with a large display and a stylus, would be a very useful part of the mobile digitization of establishments.

Director Ducki also believes that mobile digitization systems save staff time, so in the long run they help the facility save money. - If it were easier to control the materials for an operation, more operations could be carried out. Not all managers realize this," he says.

Ministry: we are preparing law changes on digitization issues

We asked the Ministry of Health whether there is any legislative work underway that will sort out the digitization of hospitals, particularly digital mobility. In response, the Ministry of Health tells Medexpress that it is conducting such, including a draft law "amending the law on publicly financed health care services (UD 169) and the implementing acts to this draft law."

They are at the stage of agreeing on comments, and the law is scheduled to enter into force at the end of 2025. The bill provides for the amendment of 3 laws and aims, as the MZ writes, "to introduce a new, centralized system of registration for health care services enabling the ordering of their provision." The system is expected to allow simplifying and speeding up the process of registering for health care services, as well as providing beneficiaries with easier access to information on the availability of appointments with all health care providers.

In addition, the Ministry of Health is preparing a regulation to expand the types of electronic medical records (EMD) to include other types of documents (medical emergency card, air medical rescue team medical card).

Finally, the MZ is conducting "preliminary work" to sanction:

• ICT systems that will enable remote medical consultations for health adjudication and the provision of health care services;
• Data analysis system - for collecting, grouping and processing medical data to prepare analyses and reports;
• patient's abbreviated health record;
• The ability for patients to provide biometric signatures;
• The possibility of using AI tools when practicing medicine;
• Supporting the digitization of paper medical records.

The Ministry of Health reports that the latter changes will be implemented as part of the National Plan for Rebuilding and Increasing Resilience. This one, in turn, envisions the entry into force of a legislative package for the launch of national e-health services and their integration with existing e-health systems.

"Otherwise, we would have definitely come forward."

The psychiatric hospital in Pruszkow is developing technologically. It has participated in many investment programs, and has financial support from the Ministry of Health and local government offices. Despite this, they have neither wristbands with barcodes for patients, nor tablets or smartphones or other mobile devices to facilitate bureaucratic activities or communication between employees. The competition under the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment 2021-2027 for the digital transformation of health care is familiar to them, but they are not applying for it. -This program excludes psychiatric hospitals. Otherwise we would certainly apply," concludes Director Ducki.

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