Thing 3 - Why Digital?

For me, digital is no more of a choice than patient records or embracing best practice. I believe that digital health is essential to care provision that working without it is dangerous for both staff and service users. The vast majority of staff use technology in their daily lives but hesitate to use it professionally. Some of the barriers identified I agree with - hardware and resources(or lack of) are frequently reported by staff but disagree that the use of digital health takes you further away from those who we help and wastes time - I would actually say that the opposite is true - embracing digital health allows us to connect with our service users in mediums with which they are comfortable and familiar and, when used correctly, increases efficiency of care. Surely efficiency and quality  are the basis for any health and social care advancement and digital health is no different. I was fascinated to see from the informatic that managers believed their staff last capable with digital technology and was pleasantly surprised when the questionnaire demonstrated that I see digital capability as a strength. We need to get all the workforce digitally capable so that we can provide effective and efficient care in a medium that is familiar to our service users. Digital diaries saves time and energy trying to work out time for staff to meet, VC / GoMeeting / attend anywhere and LYNC reduce the need for face to face contact, use of virtual reality can reduce anxiety and therefore reduced the need for sedation during certain medical procedures and electronic notes allow safe communication of patient information - these are jest a few examples of the benefits of digital health.