Vox: The EMEA Blog

I’ve been reading the 2010 Pfizer Health Index which outlines findings from a survey into the health and wellbeing of the Irish population and was published last week. With public spending a primary concern in the current economic circumstances, health is expected to take a one billion euro hit – a 7 per cent reduction.

Despite the recession and more public sector cuts across Europe, patients expect hospitals to continue to deliver a high standard of care. The performance of hospitals however, does not have to be affected negatively by spending cuts in the public sector. The road to more effective hospitals doesn’t require more money – but smarter IT investments.

Let’s take a look at the patient of the future – the e-Patient. He is technologically savvy and information hungry, and this means he requires the hospital to have a high data storage capacity. The amount of data (X-rays, electronic patient journals, image storage etc) is therefore steadily growing in the health care sector. And the IT infrastructure in many European hospitals is not always able to handle this data in an easily accessible way for the clinical staff.

A sensible approach to tackling this problem is to make the right strategic investments in technology to support the medical staff’s work and make it easier to find critical data.

For example, the Wilhelmstift Children’s Clinic in Hamburg, Germany, specialises in the treatment of children. However, even small patients generate large volumes of data in the clinic’s IT system. By introducing the Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage 2100 midrange system, the hospital has now a reliable and, at the same time, cost-effective data storage system.

Meanwhile, NHS Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus provides essential health services to people across East Lancashire, UK. The PCT’s IT department needs to maintain access to critical data for 5,000 staff across some 85 sites at all times. We have helped the PCT to improve its data capacity to meet demand and introduced a scalable storage infrastructure. The Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 system is enabling Blackburn with Darwen to continue providing high standards of care to the local community regardless of unexpected events that may affect the primary IT site.

While the latest Pfizer Report and current news put the focus on Ireland right now, the effective use of the right technology is something hospitals in all regions can benefit from.