By Jaimy Chadam and Stephan van Rhee, EY

Pressured by an aging population that increasingly suffers from chronic diseases, the health care sector is turning to technology to provide the building blocks for better care at lower costs. The technology sector has gratefully accepted this invitation and has begun bringing solutions to the market that will change the way healthcare is delivered.

Big tech and startups are turning out products that will offer caregivers and patients better monitoring solutions, better means of communication and a better way to treat illnesses. Wearables and connected devices can measure blood pressure, heart rate, glucose levels or pulmonary profiles, allowing for better preventative care to reduce doctor visits.

The collection of large amounts of clinical data in combination with analytics software will lead to improved diagnosis. Personalized patient files and digital assistants will give doctors easier access to the information needed to provide effective treatment. All of these benefits are facilitated by cloud technology and the use of smartphones and tablets in health care settings.

But before we see full-scale acceptance of these new technologies, four concerns need to be addressed:

1. Doctors and most patients are not IT specialists nor should they be. Easy application interfaces are needed for them to adopt the use of advanced technologies.

2. Health-related information is very personal people worry about privacy and data security when it comes to their health profiles.

3. System availability and data accuracy can be a matter of life and death when dealing with clinical data. Any solution needs to be flawless before it can be rolled out. A beta version that may contain bugs is unacceptable. 4. Data and solutions need to be interoperable. Only the combination of all inputs will guarantee the best outcomes and achieve the full benefit of connected health care.

Of course, several of these are competing concerns. Technological innovation usually isnt stimulated by regulation and extreme sensitivities around data security and privacy. And the responsibilities of health care providers toward their patients will make them reluctant to implement solutions that arent clinically tested and free of risks.

These concerns can be addressed through strategic partnerships health care organizations will help technology companies interpret the needs of health care providers. But that is not enough.

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EYVoice: Connected Health Care: More Than Just Patient Safety