only one out of three Italians used it – breaking latest news

How is digital healthcare in Italy? If we wanted to summarize his state of health, we could say: Electronic health records in trouble, telemedicine on the upswing, increasingly widespread wearable apps and sensors, advanced artificial intelligence under observation. the picture that gives us the search forDigital Health Observatory of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnicpresented today during the Sanit Digitale conference: forbidden to stop!.

The digitization of the health system continues– he said Mariano CorsoScientific Director of the Digital Health Observatory -, but the long-awaited change of pace that the PNRR Health Mission 6 should have given to investments in digital healthcare is not yet tangible. The use of resources linked to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is proving to be a challenge whose outcome is anything but obvious. The difficulty of understanding how to concretely realize this opportunity is one of the most significant obstacles to the development of digital healthcare according to the main decision makers of healthcare facilities (49%), together with limited economic resources (58%).

Electronic health record

From the survey carried out in collaboration with Doxa Pharma, it emerges that in 2023, 35% of citizens had at least one access to the ESF (against 33% detected in 2022) and most of them (53%) say they have used only for features related to the Covid emergency (consultation of the Green Pass, vaccination certificates, etc.).

If in 2022 there had been a very significant increase in the use of the electronic health record by citizens, in the last year there was a substantial slowdown in the diffusion of its use – explains Paul Locatelli, scientific director of the Digital Health Observatory —. As the need to use Covid emergency services has faded, there is a risk that this tool will not gain further popularity. In addition to continuing the creation of the Health File 2.0, feeding it in a homogeneous and pervasive way with documents and data and enriching it with services useful to the citizen, to push for the adoption of this tool it will be necessary to make the benefits deriving from its use more evident to citizens.

Even in the use of the Dossier for Italian patients there is a situation of stability compared to what was observed last year: 57% say they have used it (vs 54% in 2022). Among the main features used, there are access to reports and electronic prescriptions – given the greater offer of these services in the current ESF – while among the most interesting services for the future there is the possibility of viewing the trend of their clinical parameters (67%) and tu Consult specific information about your disease (65%).

Communication between healthcare professionals and patients

Most doctors use email and WhatsApp to communicate with their patients. However, Apps or communication platforms dedicated to healthcare use are increasingly considered a viable alternative by healthcare professionals (33% of specialist doctors, 38% of general practitioners and 40% of nurses), as emerged from the survey carried out on specialist doctors, in collaboration with Amd, Ame, Pke and Simfer, on GPs thanks to the collaboration with Fimmg, and on nurses, in collaboration with Fnopi.

Patients also see digital as an ally to improve relationships and communication c

on the various players involved in the treatment process, first and foremost with health professionals – he explains Clare Sgarbossa, director of the Digital Health Observatory —. The role of traditional and non-specific digital tools for healthcare, such as e-mail and instant messaging apps (e.g. WhatsApp), is consolidated. However, over 60% of healthcare professionals consider communication platforms dedicated to healthcare use among the tools of greatest interest for the future: the possibility of managing several functions useful for patient management and respecting privacy on a single tool is one of the most recognized benefits. Furthermore, these tools make it possible to separate personal communication channels from professional ones, avoiding the inappropriate use currently associated with “generalist” instant messaging apps.

Telemedicine on the rise

After the decline observed in the period following the health emergency, i Telehealth services are experiencing a new upswing. 39% of specialist doctors and 41% of general practitioners say they have used television services
and respectively 30% and 39% resorted to the telemonitoraggio.

Although it is important to use dedicated platforms for the provision of these services, only 39% of specialist doctors and 34% of GPs declare having done so – he claims Cristina Masellascientific director of the Digital Health Observatory -. This is still not enough to fully grasp its potential and exhibits a potential risks, linked, for example, to the security and privacy of the data exchanged, in case the tools are not dedicated. The development of telemedicine platforms at regional and national level envisaged by the PNRR will hopefully allow for the further diffusion of these services. However, technology alone is not enough to encourage the adoption of these solutions. In fact, it is necessary to implement an organic strategy that takes into account the technological and organizational variables that contribute to enabling an effective integration of telemedicine in the care and assistance processes.

Electronic medical record

The development of the electronic medical record it is confirmed as a priority for healthcare facilities (75% consider this area very relevant). To date, 42% of the structures say they have a Cce active in all departments, while in 23% of cases the CCE only partially activates. Consistent with this data, only half of specialist doctors use a CCE. The most common functions are those for the medical history and the clinical picture and for the management and display of summary information on the patient, while the more advanced ones, linked to decision support, are still not widespread. On this front, the challenge today is the implementation of the Ccea regional projects that some regions have in place, also thanks to the thrust of the PNRR.

Artificial Intelligence

Among the most widespread applications of AI to date are solutions that allow you to analyze images and signals for diagnostic or treatment purposes: 29% of healthcare facilities say they have started initial experiments in this direction. These are the applications most used to date by specialist doctors and considered to be the most promising for the future (60%).

In recent months, Generative AI solutions and, in particular, AI-based Chatbots designed to answer questions by emulating human conversation have aroused strong debate – says Emanuele Lettieri, scientific director of the Digital Health Observatory -. These are solutions that could also represent a great opportunity for healthcare, but on which there is no lack of concern, especially from an ethical and legal point of view. To date 1 in 10 doctors have used AI-powered Chatbots to look for scientific references with respect to a specific pathology, an application that for about half of the doctors is promising for the future. Healthcare professionals are concerned about possible inappropriate use of these tools by citizens/patients and consider it more appropriate that these be used as a support for the decisions and activities of the healthcare professional. On the other hand, there is no concern about the fact that AI can replace, even in part, the work of the doctor.