Below the content of the first edition of my Linkedin Newsletter, you can subscribe to. (already 45.000 others did 😉
“These are impressive times’, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this and said it myself these days. And they are! Questions we’ve never had to ask (ourselves) because things were obvious, services were accessible, politics were predictable.
Recently I caught my thoughts went into the area of assessing if all of this is of any good coming out of it. History learned that big events -like wars- often lead to a change in society that was needed, and I say this with great respect for every loss that has been during those hard times. I really hope the same will be true for this and we’ll find taking care, and looking after each other is the most important gift of all.
When I look into healthcare, where I ‘live in” I have the feeling this horrific pandemic also brought a kind of ‘reset, acknowledging what is important, and what is ‘luggage’ to carry. Sure, under different circumstances there will be other trade-offs to make, but we re-learned how important collaboration was. Local, regional, national, and of course also globally we witnessed the benefit of good relationships and the pitfalls of where there is work to be done. We’ve relearned that healthcare is not an island and that it can not operate to its optimum without collaborations in logistics, risk-spread procurement, a shell of (former) healthcare workers that are willing to in and help or proper almost binary responsibilities.
We also relearned that healthcare was already under heavy pressure before this pandemic hit the world, a shortage of skilled personnel, a doubling in healthcare demand, and pressure on the budget were daily issues long before COVID-19. In my presentations, I often refer to a video-cassette that has been fast-forwarded 10 years from now, and this pandemic showed us how healthcare might look like in 2030 if we keep on the current trajectory.
So, it looks like we’re at crossroads and now seems to be the time to make some nifty choices about our future, workwise, society-wise, and every individual for themselves.
In my bi-weekly newsletter, I’ll share things I read, write, and like with you. I would love to hear what matters to you, or what could be shared with my community here on Linkedin. It will be a ‘bouquet of thoughts’ and developments, not necessarily endorsed by me, but always to make up your own minds of course, as I’m using them to make up mine.
Stay Safe & be kind!!
A world-first for Dutch ICUs : Collaboration and data sharing to save lives
Dutch intensive care units will start a large scale collaboration to share data to improve the treatment of critically ill patients. This data mainly derives from ICU equipment such as surveillance monitors and respirators. Combining treatment data and artificial intelligence should clarify which treatment works best for which patient. The collaboration is called icudata.nl and is unique in the world. Click to read more …
Want to See the Future of Digital Health Tools? Look to Germany.
A look to our German neighbors gives a refreshing view of how digital health can be ‘normalized’. As always this is within their context, mileage may vary for others.
In late 2019, Germany’s parliament passed the Digital Healthcare Act (Digitale-Versorgung-Gesetz, or DVG) — an ambitious law designed to catalyze the digital transformation of the German health care system, which has historically been a laggard in that area among peer countries. It is already leading to meaningful changes and will be a boon to the development and evaluation of digital health tools as well as the generation of insights into the value they create. Click to read more …
These 5 ‘Major Shifts’ will shape the new health(care) landscape
Numerous perspectives on the future of Dutch healthcare have already been published, focusing on topics such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Health(care), digital transformation, data interoperability, and ’the right care in the right place’. However, many of the parties involved still seem to struggle with the challenge of bridging the gap between inspiring visions for the potential long-term health(care) landscape and the concrete priorities for the coming years. I’ve co-authored this article with John Luijs and Mathieu van Bergen, both partners at Deloitte NL in Life Science and Health, with the help of a lot of others. Click to read more …
Decide to deceive: do these people look real to you? They’re not!
A great NYT article about ‘deep fake’ building.
There are now businesses that sell fake people. On the website Generated.Photos, you can buy a “unique, worry-free” fake person for $2.99, or 1,000 people for $1,000. If you just need a couple of fake people — for characters in a video game, or to make your company website appear more diverse — you can get their photos for free on ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com. Adjust their likeness as needed; make them old or young or the ethnicity of your choosing. If you want your fake person animated, a company called Rosebud.AI can do that and can even make them talk. Click to read more …
A digital Human as a Pharmacist?
I have been involved in bringing “Digital Humans” to Europe and via Deloitte and Uneeq operationalizing the first digital human working as a digital pharmacist: ‘Pharmi’ (sorry for Dutch for now) at the Maartens Clinic in Nijmegen The Netherlands. Together with the pharmacist and the creator of the digital pharmacy I had a #virtualcoffee here on Linkedin LIVE.
That’s it for now: High five and stay safe!
