Anitec-Assinform, the Confindustria Association that represents the main ICT companies operating in Italy, presented the policy paper “The role of digital in the management of waiting lists”, following the conversion into Law of the Decree-Law on waiting lists in the ChamberThe document released underlines that, despite the proposed measures, the potential of digital in healthcare has not yet been fully exploited.
The report “Digital in Italy 2024” by Anitec-Assinform, presented last July 1st, confirms how digital is an increasingly crucial component of the healthcare supply chain. In 2023, the value of the digital market in healthcare reached 2,233.4 billion euros and is expected to reach 3,220 billion by 2027, with an average annual growth rate of 9.6%.
Digital technologies can offer significant opportunities to optimize both the demand and supply of healthcare services. On the demand side, digital solutions can support primary care physicians in assessing and managing patients while increasing the productivity and efficiency of the healthcare system through tools such as telemedicine, teleconsultation and telemonitoring.
Massimo Dal Checco, President of Anitec-Assinform, declared: “In a context where healthcare is increasingly digital and interconnected, the innovative technologies offered by the ICT industry represent a powerful tool to address the problem of waiting lists, offering innovative solutions both for managing demand and improving the supply of healthcare services. The challenge is to introduce these technologies in a strategic, integrated and large-scale way, looking at the processes as a whole to identify and correct inefficiencies, imbalances and pain points along the entire healthcare delivery chain.
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The document released by Anintec-Assinform proposes the establishment of a fund to provide general practitioners and pediatricians of free choice with digital tools for managing appointments and basic telemedicine services and the development of an open and interoperable Electronic Health Record (FSE 2.0).
Furthermore, the implementation of integrated platforms for waiting lists at regional and national level would promote an overall vision and simpler management of the same with a significant reduction in waiting times and would guarantee, at the same time, faster and more equitable access to health services, responding better to citizens’ needs.
