Healthcare

Demand for healthcare services is rising driven by larger number of older patients, ever more effective methods of intervention, and significant innovation. Population growth of 65% by 2049 and a significant rise in older Australians create significant capacity issues.

However, the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare provision also is creating significant challenges to healthcare professionals, administrators and policy makers.

Fujitsu believes that there is significant opportunity to harness better the significant investments in healthcare and here set out our overall vision of how to navigate the complexities of healthcare reform.

The three domains of Healthcare, primary care, aged care and acute care, are all capable of benefiting from this vision.

We believe there are three significant and connected levers which drive healthcare reform:

• Recognise enabling technologies as the “fourth utility” in the healthcare world (as important and fundamental as water and sewerage, electricity and gas). The fourth utility is the essential bridge between patients, healthcare professionals and the services, and buildings which are required to deliver effective services
• Apply radical lead processing techniques to health processes, to drive more effective and efficient outcomes
• E-Health reform and patient records as an critical enabling capability to better track, monitor, empower and deliver better outcomes for patients, and a strong emphasis on community based prevention

Fujitsu believes that health reform must encompass the entire health eco-system. There is clearly a place for providing technology to enable smart hospitals. There is a place for lean process change in for example, the management of an operating theatre. But it is also going to be essential to consider the community context – and Baby Boomers are right in the eye of the storm.

It is feasible to provide a range of simple to use health monitoring equipment, wirelessly enabled to be able to pass data into the health system, to enable smart monitoring of individuals health status. If this is linked to information portals and peer benchmarking data, it is feasible to provide a supportive “wellness” environment together with tools and advice in the case of adverse indications. To work this must be simple to use, and become in essence part of a daily routine.

We foresee a future in which the emphasis of healthcare reform is not fixing people when they are ill, but rather providing wellness information before they succumb. We recognise that this is not necessary attractive to everyone, but if a significant proportion of the population could be assisted to stay well longer, and also manage chronic disease more effectively.

We would also make the point that this reform agenda is not predicated on a uniform universal health record (either managed by the individual or the health professionals). We believe it is possible for the underlying technology to manage disparate help records and data in a transparent and flexible way. We believe the investment would be better spent on informatics to support wellness.

Fujitsu Health Survey

Fujitsu for the last three years has surveyed baby boomers with regards to their attitudes to health, wealth, and life style.

In the first year we showed that many had not thought about how they would pay for their healthcare needs in later life. Last year we examined their savings strategies and concluded that many were unlikely to be able to support themselves into old age because they had not saved enough, a trend exacerbated by the Global Financial Crisis and consequent fall in asset prices. In this report we examine their attitudes towards their ownership of their own health, and their awareness of Electronic Health Records. We conclude that many baby boomers seem unwilling or unaware of the need to take greater responsibility for their own health outcomes.

Why Choose Fujitsu?

The world's third-largest IT company, Fujitsu is uniquely positioned to provide fully managed, end-to-end healthcare information systems and services that will improve patient outcomes and accelerate business returns. We work with healthcare providers in jurisdictions around the world, leveraging our global experience and technological innovation with local know-how and great customer service.

Fujitsu's ability to continuously improve the way IT can work for the healthcare industry as a whole includes technology infrastructure, comprehensive support processes and a network of skilled support professionals that collectively optimise worldwide knowledge management. We make it our business to understand your business challenges and work with you to solve them.

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