Is That A Doctor In Your Pocket?

“Daddy, I don’t feel well.”

Few things strike at a parent’s heart more than those five words. Even worse when uttered in the middle of the night, as my daughter did last week. She had a low-grade fever and her pediatrician’s office was closed, though it wasn’t quite serious enough to go to the ER. Still wanting medical consultation, we drove to an after-hours clinic where a doctor could see her.

There must be an easier way!  According to a recent report, an easier way may not be too far off. New technologies can put a doctor in our pocket and make those midnight drives a thing of the past.

On June 9, the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) launched the latest update in the SMART series, #SMARTer2030. The report features economy-wide benefits of the deployment of information communications technology (ICT). As the findings demonstrate, an ICT-enabled world is cleaner, healthier and more prosperous with greater opportunities for individuals everywhere.

HipLink® presented by AT&T, a notification platform for healthcare professionals, IT and hospital operations is one such service.  By using HipLink, health care professionals can consolidate multiple functions, devices and workflows into a single, convenient messaging platform, helping to improve efficiency and effectiveness, while also simplifying the work day.

In addition to providing health-care benefits, e-health ICT also holds the promise of providing significant sustainability benefits.  As discussed in the #SMARTer2030 report, data suggests ICT could deliver e-health services to 1.6 billion people across the developing and developed world.  The efficiencies created by the use of those services, including remote diagnostics, videoconferencing, and data storage in electronic and other similar capabilities), could have a global impact of reducing carbon emissions as much as  0.205Gt C0 2e -- the equivalent of taking more than 39 million cars off the road. 

Without getting more technical, one can quickly see the mounting potential healthcare and sustainability benefits of ICT.

Being the father of two small children, I am truly (and selfishly) excited about what is happening here. When one of my children get sick (often at inopportune times), all other aspects of life are put on hold and rearranged to care for them. So if there is a way to put that doctor in my pocket and help reduce carbon admissions at the same time, I’m all for it!