For the past few years, I’ve been writing and advising others on the promise and potential of digital health. Several weeks ago, a personal experience reinforced the simultaneous need for human touch in healthcare.
My in-laws were visiting from India. After returning from a movie and fireworks on July 4th, my father-in-law found himself shivering. He had a 101 degree fever. My wife, a physician, gave him Tylenol and we called it a night. At 4 am the next morning, my mother-in-law wakes us up and we’re told his temperature was at 105 degrees. And we rush him to the emergency room at Danbury Hospital.
The Hospital
At the ER, a doctor took my father-in-law’s vitals and started to run diagnostic tests (blood, urine, chest x-ray and ultrasound of the bladder). Within an hour we had the diagnosis – a case of severe UTI and sepsis. He was given an IV dose of antibiotics, put on saline, and we were told that he would be admitted so he could be monitored. We made it to the hospital just in time, as there was a high risk of suffering septic shock.
So he gets admitted to the inpatient ward, and his urine was sent for a culture to make sure he received the right antibiotic. It was a waiting game from there. We waited for his fever to normalize before he could be released. We waited for the urine culture results. Between my wife, my mother-in-law and me, we took turns spending time at the hospital. The nursing staff was great – full of passion and humor, and on top of their job. It was the conversations with them that kept our spirits high.
Two days later, his fever still had not normalized, but the urine culture results were in. His antibiotics needed to be switched. It was disappointing – he had a severe, treatment-resistant bacterial infection; we were uncertain about how much longer he would need to stay at the hospital. Luckily, the hospital staff showered us with their professionalism, their passion, and their willingness to do whatever it took to make us all feel comfortable.
My father-in-law had regular visitors (my wife’s colleagues who work at the same hospital). He also had ample entertainment. India was playing its third T20 cricket match with England. The Wimbledon had just started. And FIFA (Round of 16) was well on its way. Between the conversations and the banter, the time spent at the hospital became a little bit more bearable.
Finally, on day four, the new antibiotic started to work, and his fever started to normalize. The doctor’s prognosis was positive. There was hope that he would be released the next day. There was reason to cheer! And the next morning, it was time to bring him home.
How could digital health technology have helped?
As I spent five days in and out of the hospital, I couldn’t stop thinking about my life’s work and wondering how integrated healthcare technology might have helped.
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Could he have worn a smartwatch or a piece of smart clothing or smart something that would have predicted the onset of the infection and warned us to seek medical help?
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Could he have been diagnosed remotely with a telemedicine solution, and then be treated in the comfort of our home?
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Could a monitoring device have alerted an ambulance service to transport him to the hospital?
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Could emerging, AI-enabled diagnostic technology have sped up the identification of the appropriate antibiotic, and shortened the overall hospital stay and reduced costs?
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Could digital telemetry have eased the work pressure on doctors and nurses at the hospital?
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Lastly, could a digital solution ease the nervousness one feels when being sick in a foreign land? And if these tools and capabilities existed, would they be preferable to the continuous care and concern he received from other human beings?
My conclusion?
As humans and social animals, we naturally feel good when we are in company of others. When we’re sick, it’s the human compassion and empathy that keeps us cheerful and motivated. I was grateful that my father-in-law’s hospital stay was filled with human interactions that made our experience bearable. At the same time, it was clear that digital solutions would have made various points of care smoother, more efficient, and more accurate. Technology could have shortened the diagnostic and treatment matching timeline, reducing the length of hospital stay and reduced overall costs. His antibiotic in the form of Smart [integrated] Medicine could have helped monitor his recovery and risk for a relapse.
My conclusion is that while human interactions and compassion define our well-being, technology can help transform the process of healthcare – from prevention to diagnosis to monitoring – making it more accurate, efficient and cost-effective. The goal of technology has never been to replace humans, but to free us up to do more meaningful activities such as spending time with people we care about. Digital health innovation will lead to less time in hospitals, less time feeling sick, and more time being well with friends and family. More time being human!