Digital technology has hugely improved healthcare in many ways. It’s now possible to test patients on the spot – in a clinic or hospital – for many health conditions. Digital diagnostic devices can analyse samples like sweat, saliva, faeces, tears and breath for signs of major diseases such as cancer and HIV.
Testing at the point of care – where the patient is being treated – saves time that would have been spent waiting for results to come back from a laboratory. And test results can be stored in a digital medical record to keep healthcare providers informed about a patient’s care. I lead a research group at the University of Pretoria that has conducted several studies on point-of-care diagnostics in sub-Saharan Africa, especially where resources are limited and populations are underserved.
As South Africa moves towards universal health coverage, we conducted a study to investigate key areas that need to be fixed before real progress can be made. The study focused on lessons learnt from COVID-19. The main problems the study identified were in the ability to share data instantly, the ability of systems to “speak to” each other, data security and infrastructure.
Data connectivity is key to making point-of-care testing more efficient. Point-of-care tests equipped with Bluetooth low energy technology can send data over short distances. For example the Abbott FreeStyle Libre system is commonly used for glucose monitoring in diabetes management.
Healthcare workers .