Data has universal applications across the health, housing and social care sector, ranging from the sharing of private medical information to predictive technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The health, housing and social care sector consists of any organisation which provides healthcare support to people, this includes hospitals, dentists, social care support and nursing homes.
Data has become essential across most sectors to improve communication, transferring of information and to enable the analysis of processes and procedures.
In this blog we take a look at how important data is to an organisation and whether it is a strategic asset.
You can’t argue, it’s a ‘Strategic Asset’
You may ask yourself, what is a strategic asset? It is essentially something that brings value to a business. Data is increasingly becoming essential to every aspect of a businesses functionality, in turn this means that data has become a pivotal tool in the direction of an organisation.
Having a comprehensive data framework allows the workforce to share, link and analyse data. Having a strong understanding of how to use data will help deliver higher quality health, housing and social care services.
An example of data’s impact on the health, housing and social care sector is a start-up called Healthy Help, which uses smartphone data to accurately predict up to 200 different medical conditions and when they will happen.
Predictive technology
Predictive technology is a body of tools that is capable of discovering and recognising patterns from past behaviours to help forecast likely future events.
In the NHS, they want to use data to learn from their mistakes, they want to be able to target the relevant patients and to be able to focus all their efforts in the right place.
Technology has quickly been integrated into people’s lives. They have been developed to help predict health outcomes and premeditate health conditions and long term illnesses.
A stumbling block to integrating predictive technology such as AI in an industry like health, housing and social care is the fear of new technology from the workforce. This relies on leading professionals to communicate and reassure staff members and patients that predictive technology can be integrated to benefit the medical process.
Sharing data and data security
Understandably, someone that has not used data before may look at the data revolution cautiously. To overcome these worries staff will firstly need the correct training and guidance from their superior or industry expert. This could include topics such as; how to securely share data outside of the database as well as how to send private information anonymously.
Once they have the understanding, the correct digital infrastructure needs to be in place to fully utilise the influx of data.
Data security is always a contentious topic, even with recent data protection laws there is still a lack of trust within the health, housing and social care industry with sharing data. This can be combated by strong team development and clarity at a system level.
Embracing technology
The influence of technology is already in our lives and will continue to play a huge part in how we function as a society. Embracing predictive technology will have life saving effects as well as financial benefits. Being able to anticipate when a patient may fall ill could mean saving lives while focusing your resources on a particular issue and reducing waste e.g. unnecessary ambulance call outs.
However, technology only works when everyone involved is on board and focused on the same goal. If there are people that are resistant to the changes then it could affect the flow chain of the organisation.
According to a chief executive of a health charity, the vision is for technology to seamlessly link patients to multiple experts all at once. This demonstrates a real drive for organisations in health, housing and social care to embrace technology.
Want to learn more?
If you would like to learn more about how your company can transition to digital by your own design or to download our white paper visit Tynetec | Trusted Technology. Caring For People.
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