Digital transformation in the health sector is not a simple matter of technical change, but requires adaptive change in human attitudes and skills as well as of legal frameworks and the organisation of work.
The author of this report is Karolina Socha Dietrich, OECD Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS), Health Division. This report was prepared for the 2020 German Presidency of the Council of the European Union and with the support from the German Federal Ministry of Health (2020).
Digital technologies offer unique opportunities to strengthen health systems, as illustrated once more by the COVID19 pandemic, when the use and oftentimes remarkably fast deployment of various digital tools and solutions has allowed countries to better detect and prevent the spread as well as to respond to the pandemic. In general, digital health technologies can help meet the challenge of both the changing health needs of the public and the ever tighter fiscal space. In the health sector, the potential benefits of digital technologies are abundant. Ensuring access to the right information by the right people at the right time can improve safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of care. Digitally enhanced health services can improve access and help move away from reactive towards proactive approaches to preserving health. Health workers could be relieved from timeconsuming routine tasks and interact better with patients. Patients could become more engaged, improve selfcare skills, and more effectively coproduce health. However, despite some isolated successes as well as the recent acceleration in uptake of digital technologies achieved during the COVID19 pandemic, the health sector is a long way behind other industries in reaping digital opportunities. Investment in technical infrastructure plays an important role and is often insufficient, but even an ideal technical infrastructure will not guarantee a success. Successful digital transformation in the health sector is not a simple matter of technical change but requires a complex adaptive change in human attitudes and skills as well as in the organisation of work and the related legal and financial frameworks. Digital technologies only provide the tools and cannot transform the health sector on its own but need to be put to productive use by the health workers and patients. Many health workers already use some digital tools and solutions in their daytoday work and perceive the benefits that they bring to them and to patients. However, many also question the value digital technologies produce in health care or complain about technology getting in the way of their work. Moreover, health workers often report not having opportunities for the upskilling required to put the technology to full use or that the legal, financial, and organisational aspects of work – designed in the predigital era – are not adequately reformed to enable the technology to add value. The workers and patients also demand appropriate safeguards against potential undesired effects of the use of digital tools, including the possible lack of transparency or threats to data privacy. If unaddressed, these concerns are not only likely to result in additional inefficiency and waste, but also place undue burden and strain on the workers.