Data is helping transform Irish healthcare

Una Fitzpatrick

Director, Technology Ireland

Digital health is underscored by collaboration and actionable information. Now, businesses in Ireland are creating a new age of digital health solutions.

New technologies are empowering patients to manage their own care and are encouraging a preventative approach to healthcare. Digital health drives better decision making among healthcare professionals by allowing them to identify risk and monitor and track disease progression.

Collaboration within healthcare technology

The tech industry is transforming health and enhancing expert driven results. Technology and healthcare companies have upped their game by collaborating at increasing levels to operate with a secure, trustworthy health data space.

Digital technologies are increasingly crucial for achieving public health goals. This is one of the key lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic we should not forget. Like any other tool, digital technologies are only effective if they are accessible and useful for as many people as possible. Technology will never replace the human element of healthcare, but it is a vitally important tool in making the provision of healthcare more efficient and accurate.

While challenges exist regarding the adoption of digital health, the benefits and cost savings associated with digital health tools are immeasurable. We want Ireland to be a location where all stakeholders in the digital health care sector can participate fully. There is such a creative community across the technology, medtech and biopharma industries with access to fantastic talent here in Ireland.

Digital technologies are increasingly crucial for achieving public health goals.

Reimagining the world of medicine

The medtech industry has evolved from developing medical technology products, to broader solutions. Cutting edge medical devices offer healthcare professionals remote updates on how the devices are performing and how patients are doing. The pharmaceutical industry in Ireland is reimagining medicine with digital health. Data is helping gather insights from clinical trials to develop better drugs, faster, while ensuring that patients better understand their medication and can adhere to it more easily.

While Ireland’s productive workforce has helped us to attract international investment and inspire entrepreneurs to found companies here, more must be done to support upskilling as today’s skills may not be enough to invent tomorrow’s disruptive technology.

As a competitive knowledge economy, we need to build on our success and do more to embrace lifelong learning by tapping into supports to help businesses and people achieve their potential, and by embracing new technologies and career opportunities in the face of change.