Why (good) data is critical to healthcare outcomes

As we move further into the 21st century, the sustainable delivery of safe, high quality health care, has never presented a greater challenge. Increasing demand on health services, reflecting a population demographic characterised by ageing and/or complex chronic comorbid disease, is placing considerable strain on most health systems, which in the developed world were designed in the 20th century to deal with episodic acute presentations and illness. SGH Hospital of the Future Podcast guest Professor Keith McNeil, Commissioner for Excellence and Innovation in Health, Government of South Australia, explains to podcast hosts Associated Professor Goh Su-Yen and Dr Amanda Lam why the continued over-reliance on acute hospital-based systems needs to be urgently revisited to enable more effective distribution of resources to facilitate provision of care closer to or in the home, wherever clinically appropriate. For all healthcare presentations requiring acute hospital care and/or care in the community, the march towards precision medicine (and the wider precision healthcare agenda) will be critical to address the waste and harm delivered every day across our modern-day health systems. Critically underpinning these reform agendas, and any change agenda within the complexity of healthcare delivery, is and will continue to be, the need for high quality, longitudinal health outcome-based data, enabling highly tailored/personalised treatment to be delivered first time, every time, to every patient that requires care within our systems. Professor McNeil envisions a modern digital ecosystem based on interoperability and advanced data analytics, will enable us to embrace 21st century expectations, and to deliver the levels and standard of care we all aspire to provide over the years to come. It will empower us to harness the promise of AI, and to fully leverage data as one of our most valuable assets. About Professor Keith McNeil Professor Keith McNeil is an internationally recognised respiratory physician trained in heart and lung transplantation at the world-renowned Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Keith established the Queensland Lung Transplant Service at The Prince Charles Hospital in 1996, and soon thereafter returned to Papworth where he was Lead Physician for the heart and lung transplant program. From there, Keith has occupied a vast array of positions in both senior clinical and senior administrative roles, including as CEO of tertiary hospital and health services (Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and Metro North Hospital and Health Service in Brisbane, and Cambridge University Hospitals in the UK), Head of IT and Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) in the NHS, and Deputy Director General, Chief Medical Officer and CCIO in Queensland Health. Professor McNeil presents across various sectors as a valued contributor to clinical and patient safety benefits associated with technology and digital transformation in the healthcare setting. His vision is to align research, precision medicine, and the data and information agenda with health system reform and transformation. About SGH Hospital of the Future Podcast Hosts Associate Professor Goh Su-Yen is Senior Consultant, Endocrinology at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), Head and Senior Consultant, SingHealth Duke-NUS Diabetes Centre, and Group Director, Innovation and Transformation, SingHealth, with an interest in innovation and transformation. Dr Amanda Lam is a Senior Consultant Endocrinologist at Singapore General Hospital. She graduated from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, and completed her specialist training in Endocrinology and Diabetes at SingHealth. Dr Amanda holds a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics (MMCi) degree from Duke University, and currently serves as the Clinical Director of the Department of Data Science in Singapore General Hospital and is the Co-Lead for Digitalization and Data for the SingHealth Duke-NUS Diabetes Centre. Dr Amanda has been involved in digital initiatives to improve the delivery of care, including Note Buddy - an ambient AI documentation solution - app development for diabetes care, and the integration of machine learning models for clinical care and hospital operations. SGH Hospital of the Future Podcast is also available on: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5XuXifizabpKU4rzTyL3e9 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sgh-hospital-of-the-future/id1817347118 Find out more about the podcast series at https://www.sgh.com.sg/about-sgh/news/hospital-of-the-future #SingaporeGeneralHospital website: www.sgh.com.sg #SGH #SGHHospitalOfTheFuture #podcast #healthcare #innovation #healthcareinnovation #hospitalinnovation #DareToInnovate #precisionmedicine #personalisedtreatment