The role of the cloud in e-healthcare

The cloud: evolution or revolution?

Filip Marchal, Product Manager Cloud at Proximus: “Switching to the cloud is becoming more and more important to make applications and programs accessible everywhere. The public cloud plays a major role here. But things are evolving rather slowly. Belgium in particular is proving fairly conservative. However, under pressure from major cloud players, companies are now racing to prepare applications for the cloud.”

New technologies and privacy restrictions

New technologies mean that more and more data are generated and stored. And there are new privacy rules now, too. Filip: “That’s right, but privacy is just as important as it ever was. All that has changed is the way we use data. Because applications are integrated and users often only have to log in once, we now have to use extra reliable means to collect data.”

Filip: “That is why new technologies are evolving partly based on data protection and the confidence that the end user has to have in them. For example, there is a move towards multi-factor authentication, and we are also seeing a trend towards saving biometric data by means of eye scans, fingerprints and the like. Responsibility for security also lies partly with the end user, who can download, modify and delete his data.”

Filip Marchal, Product Manager Cloud at Proximus

Data protection

Proximus complies with all privacy and data laws. Data are stored in a closed system. “With cloud computing, the engineers must be able to get to the data. This is why patient data are anonymized. The data remain available in the public cloud, but the patients’ names are replaced by numbers. So, you can still use these data to make calculations, for instance, without knowing who the patient is,” Filip adds.

Smart cameras, voice technology and face recognition

“Various technologies are in the pipeline, such as distance operations using robots. Azure Kinect is another example of a new technology. The Microsoft smart camera detects patterns in movements thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning”, says Joke Tisaun. “In departments for people with dementia, doors open and close automatically with Azure Kinect. If a patient feels the urge to wander off, the camera warns the right people.”

Joke Tisaun, Business Innovation & Development Manager Healthcare at Proximus NXT

“Voice technology and face recognition are ready, for example, to prompt dementia patients to take their medicine by means of a familiar voice and a digital assistant such as Cortana. This gives nurses more time for better quality care.”

Automatic follow-up of medication

Proximus also makes it possible to follow up on medication end-to-end via smartphone, from prescribing to ordering to administering. Joke: “This means that the effect of medicines can be measured far more accurately: what effect is it actually having and what should it be doing? The doctor can also check that the drugs are being taken at the right time. You can send an Alzheimer’s patient a reminder to take his medication. And your smartphone can tell you whether a side-effect of a drug is normal or not.” The possibilities and benefits are huge.