HEALTH SERVICE EXECUTIVE
a shared vision . Through working together based on a shared vision , we ' re able to deliver far greater impacts than we could if we just innovated on our own . We ' ve worked with a pipeline of around 15 different SMEs to co-innovate solutions in the last year alone ."
One company that mobilised really quickly was Trimedica , which created the TRITEMP thermometer . This uses infrared technology to measure the temperature of a patient and requires no contact - it can even be used while a patient is sleeping without needing to wake them up . " This was also very important in terms of COVID-19 when we knew very little about the disease . The limited contact between the clinician and the patient reduces the risk of COVID-19 spreading , so it ' s very beneficial ."
Curley adds that another benefit that is often an afterthought is the total cost of medical equipment or medical devices , which in the case of TRITEMP is around a fifth of a conventional device because it doesn ' t have disposable parts . " It ' s a very sustainable solution . Once we identified this solution , TRITEMP had shipped hundreds of these devices to us within a couple of days , and they were deployed immediately by public health nurses going out to people ' s homes and in our hospitals ."
The overarching aim of building HSE ' s digital capacity to transform healthcare is to improve the lives of patients , as well as those of the clinicians . " Ultimately , if we ' re successful , Ireland will be a really healthy society . The focus of the healthcare system will move from recovering from illness to maintaining wellness . We ' ll use techniques like social prescribing rather than always prescribing pills as the solution . It will be a proactive , predictive system and is based primarily in the home and community - we will still have acute hospitals , but they will be highly digitised .
" We think using this new digital-based , home-based approach to healthcare can be transformational ," Curley adds . " Every healthcare system in the world is struggling and has budget and service challenges . We think we can provide a design pattern for other health systems to copy . Most importantly , we hope patient experiences and outcomes will be better , clinician experiences and outcomes will be better , and people will live longer and more fulfilling lives ."
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