If the counterproductive Dr. Google is excluded from the analysis, there is no doubt that technology is an essential ally of 21st century healthcare . There is no healthcare activity that does not already rely, directly or indirectly, on it. And the coronavirus crisis has only confirmed the need to use it where the human being cannot reach: both in the purely therapeutic and in the health security measures demanded by this new stage in which COVID-19 has put us, whose duration is uncertain.
Among the technologies used since the outbreak of the pandemic, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) stand out. Its importance in tackling the unknown (eg new viruses like SARS-CoV-2) will remain. Xavier Salla, an expert in virtual reality and professor of Digital Communication and New Technologies at the Abad Oliba CEU University in Barcelona explains it with an example: “Artificial intelligence allows interconnecting a huge number of databases and results to select the best treatment, even adjusted to each patient. A doctor is subject to factors such as tiredness or moods, and cannot handle all the information available, which inevitably leads him to make mistakes. The AI does not falter and keeps the level of successes constant ”.
Are we going towards a Big Brother with a mask? Now that we are in a time of de-escalation and we live concerned about containing possible outbreaks of COVID-19, it is worth wondering what role technology can play in public health during the so-called new normal or, going further, the post-COVID era . For example, when making possible the movements of the population with sufficient health security conditions. In this sense, we are seeing somewhat extravagant – or rather disturbing – initiatives, such as the now famous robotic dogs that patrol Singapore’s parks to ensure social distance . The use of drones to monitor that there are no large crowds, the circuits of cameras with sensors to check the use of masks in certain spaces or transport networks are more likely to become something everyday – a system similar to the one that already exists on the roads. to control the use of the seatbelt–, the installation of body temperature control arches at the entrances to closed premises …
In the case of thermal arcs, there are doubts about their reliability. Its use is based on the premise that a person’s body temperature is a symptom that they may suffer from COVID-19 and therefore transmit the virus that causes it. But as Miguel Ángel Lucas del Amo, a lawyer for the Data Protection Department of COFM Servicios 31 (a professional consulting services company for the health sector) says, “this conclusion is hasty, since we are faced with a criterion that has not been scientifically proven. It is not a measure that guarantees the non-transmission of the coronavirus, given that the number of asymptomatic patients is high ”.
Temperature arcs raise another concern: how is their use compatible with privacy and intimacy? According to the criteria of the Spanish Agency for Data Protection, the manager of a public place cannot take data related to a person’s health and process it without further ado. For this reason, Lucas del Amo considers that “these systems should not record the information obtained by associating it with data that identifies individuals. These equipments must be approved and the temperature measurement must always be done by qualified personnel. And users must be informed that this control is going to be carried out ”.
Telemedicine yes, but without excesses
COVID-19 is transforming the healthcare model, as it requires new approaches to treatment, for example those allowed by telemedicine. Various studies point out that during the state of alarm, telematic inquiries have increased in Spain by more than 20% . The objective is – in those cases in which it is possible – to continue this type of assistance beyond this crisis, in order to reduce visits to health centers .
For this, it is essential to eliminate certain barriers in regulation. But experts warn: excessive virtualization can reduce the quality of patient care.
Tracking and tracking apps for those infected with COVID-19 are emerging as a much more useful technology than temperature arcs . According to Xavier Salla, associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, “mobile devices are widely implanted in society and seem the best resource for control; they provide a lot of information about individuals within a community ”. But Salla recalls that “the citizen should participate in setting limits to the use of these tools.” In Spain, the Government is developing an app to track contagion cases, similar to those already implemented in countries such as France, Switzerland, Germany and Portugal, with the support of Apple and Google. The Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, has reported that this project will respect data protection and will be managed “with caution and analyzing whether the information collected is effective for the traceability of contacts.” As he says, “these applications have an additional difficulty: they depend on the voluntariness of citizens .”
By Alberto Cornejo.
