New technologies place Australia in good health

Australia has a complex yet remarkable health system, catering for about 10 million hospitalisations and more than 130 million GP visits each year. There is much to be proud of when one considers the array of services delivered across the nation.

With public expenditures clocking in at about 10 per cent of GDP, Australia’s health system is far more cost-effective than that of comparable nations such as the United States. We have excellent outcomes for bowel and breast cancer, and in 2014, ranked seventh in life expectancy across the OECD.

Of course, health systems are not static, but buffeted by constant demographic and technological change. By 2055, Australia will enjoy one of the world’s longest life expectancies – 96.6 years for women and 95.1 for men. The number of people aged over 65 is projected to more than double (from 3.1 million to 7 million), requiring new models of care to tackle conditions such as dementia, arthritis, cancer and type 2 diabetes. As population ageing narrows the nation’s tax base, Australia must also reduce preventable hospital admissions (currently costing $2 billion a year) and adapt to increasingly expensive medical technologies and disease complexity.

These demands must be met at a time when Australians’ expectations of health service providers have never been higher. Today, people seek unprecedented control and personalisation of their healthcare experience using technology. Elderly Australians are looking to live for longer in their own homes. And people of all ages –  particularly Millennials, whose lives are mediated through the internet and personal devices – want the power to manage their ‘wellness’ throughout their lives rather than tackle problems once it’s too late.

Digital Transformation CTA

Microsoft’s vision for health

With our suite of trusted Azure cloud services, and extensive technology capabilities and partners, Microsoft understands that digital health technologies are not a panacea for these challenges. Nonetheless, they offer service providers of the best hopes to solve a fundamental 21st-century conundrum: how to improve patient outcomes and better equip practitioners while lowering the per capita cost of care.

Microsoft envisions four key pillars to the future of health.

  1. A new era of patient engagement

The whole point of digital transformation is to empower patients to better use technology so they can have their own health information at their fingertips, and participate in the care they need.

Healthcare has rarely been associated with an extraordinary experience – and the patient journey through the system is often daunting. However, power is inexorably shifting to patients through the increasing use of connected wearables, diagnostic devices, Australian Government portals such as My Health Record and mobile apps that connect to GP and hospital systems.

In aged care, new citizen-centred funding arrangements are pushing providers to offer digital engagement platforms that consolidate services such as meal requests, family video conferencing and payment interfaces. In addition, the use of sensors to remotely monitor the care environment is maturing into a ‘must have’ capability – both in home care and residential facilities.

  1. Empowering care teams

Equipping practitioners with the best available tools is vital as clinical care becomes more complex and interdisciplinary. The key trend is that communications methods such as SMS and pagers are giving way to integrated productivity, collaboration and communication suites. These enable messaging, alerts, and voice and video conferencing. They also help staff to swap insights, and share research and case studies within clinical environments. Microsoft is particularly excited about our ongoing efforts to develop Skype for Business into a major telehealth platform.

  1. Optimising clinical and operational effectiveness

Health providers are beginning to take advantage of the sophisticated cloud-enabled analytics capabilities of tools such as Power BI to analyse data, detect patterns and make better decisions. These take data from both structured and unstructured sources, including electronic medical records and a myriad of other sources.

In Australia, we are already witnessing the early stages of predictive models that allow, for example, patients to be identified who possess a higher risk of unplanned re‑admission, or risk models to be developed for secondary blood stream infections. In short, the processing capabilities of the Azure cloud opens up a new world of proactive, personalised care.

  1. Transforming the care continuum

Finally, transforming the continuum of care in Australia is a particular ambitious challenge given the division in funding responsibilities and siloing of information across the health system. Yet, the need for integrated care management will only grow as more patients develop multiple chronic conditions.

To enable the best decisions, clinical information must be consolidated. Solving the interoperability challenge is vital to enable the safe and secure sharing of information. As people’s comfort with technology increases, they will take greater responsibility for their own wellbeing. Healthcare will move out of formal clinical settings, and into communities, workplaces and homes.

The Bendigo cloud-first model

Today, Microsoft is turning the transformational potential of the cloud into reality at the new Bendigo Hospital in Victoria. Opened in January 2017, it is the nation’s first healthcare facility to use Azure data centres. It features 372 inpatient beds, 72 same-day beds, 11 operating theatres, an integrated cancer centre, and maternity and mental health units.

Forty core applications have been connected via Microsoft BizTalk on Azure, including patient administration platforms and the hospital’s laboratory and radiology IT systems. Care occurs much closer to the patient thanks to a mobility and device strategy that allows bedside handover, documentation and access to clinical information whenever and wherever it is needed. Clinicians also have an instant view of where each patient is located within the hospital – a new capability that has received widespread praise.

The future is bright

Inspired by cloud-first hospitals such as Bendigo, Australia’s health and aged-care providers have every reason to be confident. Artificial intelligence, cognitive services and the development of connected medical environments through Internet of Things technologies are innovations that are already entering the medical sphere – and these will all accelerate to support the health system of the future.

In other words, transformation is not a threat but an opportunity to be harnessed. Australia’s doctors, nurses and allied health professionals will continue to set new standards for intelligence, care and compassion. However, digital technology will be integral to redefining their mission for the 21st century.

Customer Story – Bendigo Health

Learn how Microsoft is committed to making Australia a world leader in healthcare at the new Bendigo Hospital.