Digital transformation of healthcare gathers pace globally

The UAE and Estonia could see cooperation in the digital transformation of healthcare.
Riina Sikkut, Estonia’s minister of health, said that significant developments in the healthcare sectors of both countries have created a “strategic opportunity” for joint efforts in innovative healthcare solutions, according to the Emirates News Agency.
Sikkut mentioned that Estonia has utilized AI and data analysis to improve healthcare services, with integration of identity verification and health data with emphasis on disease prevention.
“Since Expo 2020 Dubai, fruitful partnerships have been established between Estonian companies and UAE health institutions,” Sikkut said, pointing to previously established ties between the two countries. “These partnerships have led to the design of advanced digital platforms based on AI that enhance efficiency in healthcare, opening up opportunities to expand these solutions in the UAE and the region.”
Estonia has been at the forefront of digital transformation globally, and this especially pertains to healthcare, since the 1990s, the minister told WAM. This includes the development of a comprehensive e-health system underpinned by advanced infrastructure such as digital identity verification that enables secure linking of health databases.
Sikkut explained that this integrated electronic system allows healthcare providers and decision-makers to access real-time data, which improves the system’s ability to deliver efficient services, whilst enabling patients’ full control over their health data. The minister also indicated the UAE’s digital projects in healthcare which improves health data exchange among healthcare providers in the country.
India’s digital health account
In India medical patients may soon be registered to a digital health account.
The country’s National Health Authority (NHA) has asked the National Medical Commission (NMC) to direct all medical colleges, government and private hospitals to register all patients for an Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Account (ABHA ID).
The ABHA health ID is a 14-digit number that allows patients to access their health records, prescriptions, and consultant details across healthcare providers. The ABHA ID is voluntary while digital health data privacy is regulated under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. So far the NHA has issued 730 million ABHA ID numbers.
Last year the NMC had asked hospitals to register ABHA ID for patients but the direction had not been carried out.
Biometrics combat health insurance fraud in Kenya
In Kenya there is a greater push to use biometrics in relation to healthcare. For example, it is viewed as a key step in efforts to clean up the country’s Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) which has been affected by fraud.
Kenya’s Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa said the rollout of a biometric verification system would replace the current One Time Pin system, which has proven slow and vulnerable to fraud translating to massive costs for the state.
“We will shift back to biometrics since this is the only way we can curb corruption,” Barasa said. “With NHIF, the biometrics was just at facility level and what some of the corrupt health care providers were doing, they would take their own fingerprint, which would then be used by thousands of patients within the facility.”
Kenya has urged citizens to register their biometrics for a more streamlined health insurance system since 2021.
Australia trials digital identity verification using digital medical credentials
Australia’s digital identity exchange scheme Trust Exchange (TEx) will be tested in a pilot with Commonwealth Bank to explore using digital medical credentials as a way to verify identity.
An official Australian agency has been working with Commonwealth Bank on a concept that would use the Medicare card housed in an Australian citizen’s myGov app digital wallet to contribute to the identity verification process.
The pilot at a Canberra branch will use QR codes for sharing only necessary government-verified information. The idea is that TEx will eventually allow Australians to perform identity verification and share digital credentials, without handing over physical ID documents or sharing data not relevant to the transaction, in a wide variety of use cases. TEx came with a AU$11.4 (US$7.3) million investment for proof of concept.
Japan replaces health insurance cards with My Number ID
In Japan the issuance of health insurance cards was officially discontinued last month in favor of the 12-digit My Number ID, which the country’s government had been trying to push over the last year.
There had been pushback against a government drive to replace health insurance cards with My Number digital ID after its launch in 2016, with citizens raising concerns over a number of issues including data and system glitches, privacy fears, and public distrust.
But the Japanese government said only the My Number ID with integrated data will be used by health insurance beneficiaries, referring to the ongoing digital transformation agenda in the medical domain.
Per the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, over 77 million health insurance beneficiaries had registered for My Number ID as of October 2024, thanks partly to a government move to incentivize its use. However, only 15 percent of patients reportedly used it for health insurance purposes during that month, according to Nippon. Officials have explained that all those who do not have the My Number ID will but are eligible for insured care will be issued a certificate to be used in its place until they obtain the My Number ID.
Concern over digital personal health information in U.S.
The concern over security of electronic personal health information is certainly not confined to Japan. Last month, an attorney for Ascension Health, a major U.S. hospital operator, wrote to the state of Maine’s attorney general to tell him the electronic personal health information (e-PHI) of Ascension patients and employees were compromised during the ransomware attack that occurred last May which affected nearly 5.6 million people.
The attack significantly disrupted Ascension’s operations across its extensive network, encompassing 134,000 associates, 35,000 affiliated providers, and 140 hospitals in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Immediate consequences included the diversion of ambulances, closure of pharmacies, and a reversion to manual record-keeping methods as critical IT systems had to be taken offline.
The attack on Ascension was the latest cyber attack targeting the healthcare sector, which is particularly vulnerable due to the sensitive nature of patient data and the critical importance of uninterrupted medical services. Earlier in 2024 there was a similar ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group that affected the personal health information of 100 million people, underscoring the escalating cybersecurity challenges healthcare providers face.
Article Topics
biometrics | cybersecurity | data protection | digital ID | fraud prevention | healthcare | identity verification | patient identification
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