Tele-medicine and digital technology gives remote access to therapies and treatments
Introduction of tele-medicine and digital technology could allow patients to access diagnostic and monitoring services in their own home. This could reduce the demand for health care scientists as parts of their role are carried out by “gadgets” and could also impact the settings in which they work.
Health care science (in all its forms) is a very technological profession and continually develops with advancements and innovations in technology for diagnosis and monitoring.
The current policy direction is to move care from a secondary to primary setting and deliver more care in a patient’s home. Tele-medicine and digital technology could from an important part of successfully implementing this policy by providing remote access to diagnostics and ongoing monitoring, thus reducing the need for a patient to visit a primary or secondary care facility.
Some of this technology already exists, but its implementation in every day care could have significant implications for the health care science workforce. Demand for the professions may decrease if some elements of their role are carried out by “gadgets” and the shape of the workforce may shift, leading to a smaller number of very specialist roles. This may make the profession less attractive to students, reducing supply as they see a limited number of opportunities within the field.
This idea could also lead to a change in setting for health care scientists, with more working in the community rather than in a traditional hospital laboratory.
Sources or references
- CfWI Health care scientist scenario generation workshop.
Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.
