COVID-19 drives rise in tech for Aussie healthcare workers

Due to the immense impact of COVID-19, over 78% of the Australian healthcare sector has been issued with new technologies, including mobile devices, to support their duties during the pandemic. All healthcare workers agreed that the use of mobile devices to complete administrative tasks while visiting patients in the field made their jobs easier, particularly during periods of increased demand in 2020. Research from mobile and IoT management solutions provider SOTI found that 74% of healthcare works said the main benefit of mobile devices was the ability to access employer systems remotely, which simplified tasks when visiting patients.

Michael Dyson, VP of Sales (APAC) at SOTI, said the company’s latest research has revealed just how significant a role business-critical mobility plays in enabling Australian healthcare workers to do their jobs.

“This was particularly true during the pandemic, when healthcare workers were stretched to their limits,” Dyson said.

The study also found that 74% of Australian healthcare workers used some form of technology to perform daily business-critical duties, with only 26% relying on paper-based methods. Dyson noted that the use of paper-based methods to perform duties such as recording patient information is becoming redundant, due to the inefficiencies of such a manual process, security concerns and its unstructured nature.

“If the pandemic has taught the healthcare industry anything, it’s that speed, efficiency and security is key, and without the right technology in place to support this, the prioritisation of patient care begins to take a back seat,” Dyson said.

Despite the rising use of technology in the healthcare sector, 44% of healthcare workers said they experienced technical difficulties when searching for medical records, test results and allergen information, as well as frequent technical issues causing downtime (36%). Additionally, 44% of workers said their biggest concern was the security of patient information, while 58% said that technical issues were the result of current systems not being integrated properly.

Dyson acknowledged that although the deployment of technology plays a crucial role in supporting healthcare workers on the frontline, there is a concern that there are major issues around the performance, connectivity and security of deployed technologies in the healthcare industry.

“It is critical that healthcare providers are implementing and equipping healthcare workers with the most up-to-date technologies, backed by advanced and secure systems, including an integrated mobility and IoT management platform. Those healthcare providers who are making these investments are paving the way for better healthcare practice, and at the same time helping their frontline workers devote more of their time to caring for patients,” Dyson said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/metamorworks