How does Jean-Pierre Van Boxelaer, Medical Director at AZ Imelda, Bonheiden, see communication technology playing a role in the provision of healthcare?

Thanks to the fast throughflow of results and reports from medical examinations, both internal and external specialists and doctors can be informed and confer more quickly and efficiently, which can only improve the quality of care.

Dr Jean-Pierre Van Boxelaer, Medical Director at AZ Imelda, is among the ‘older’ generation and perfectly remembers the introduction of computerisation into the healthcare sector. Whereas it initially involved isolated incidents and own systems, in recent years he is seeing a clear trend towards a wider platform and interconnectivity between the various healthcare providers.
“Obviously it is a great improvement compared with the past”, says Dr Van Boxelaer, “All the paper files were scanned in recent years and so now, with a few temporary exceptions, we work 100% digitally.
This means that all of the administrative, financial and medical/paramedical data will be interlinked and information processing has already become a great deal easier. A practical example of this is the fast throughflow of results and reports from medical examinations. Both internal and external specialists and doctors can confer more quickly and efficiently.
The new eHealth platform fits in perfectly with this development, without infringing on anyone’s own initiatives and also aims to promote and support secure electronic information exchange between all of the players in healthcare (doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, patients, etc.) while respecting both personal privacy and medical professional confidentiality..”

• You may say that there are only advantages, but it appears in practice that digital technology is not introduced without a struggle. The ‘older’ generation of doctors and nursing staff in particular have difficulty in jumping onto the digital train. Dr Van Boxelaer: “people do not like to change, that is simply in our nature. Informing and supporting people efficiently during the introduction of new procedures is crucially important for successful implementation. We have already put a lot of energy into this here at AZ Imelda, but still notice that not everyone can or wants to use the new technology. However, the new generation of doctors will certainly take the lead and you can almost say that the laptop has gradually supplanted the stethoscope in hospital corridors.”
• But Rome was not built in one day either. The result may ultimately be seen!