What does the future of primary care computing look like?

I founded Black Pear Software to enable the next generation of primary care computing by providing clinicians with informatics tools to underpin better services and patients with the knowledge to better manage their own health. I’m delighted to have been asked to address the British Computer Society Primary Healthcare Specialist Group on ‘The future of primary care computing – towards a connected health record’ at Primary Health Info 2012 on 23rd-25th April 2012 at Chesford Grange, Warwickshire.

I believe that the technology is now available to revolutionise patients’ healthcare by providing their clinicians with reliable information at the point of care, whether this be the consulting room, the bedside or their home. Handheld devices such as smartphones and tablet computers will host apps that allow clinicians to access information wherever and whenever they need it. Interoperable systems will allow data to be shared between everyone involved in a patient’s care. These advances will fundamentally change the nature of the services clinicians provide, leading to a new generation of healthcare computing.

myHealthFile provides the framework necessary for these new services. Mobile devices and apps coupled with cloud computing mobilise the clinical record so that it is accessible from point of care. Agile and flexible development methods allow clinicians to evolve apps in line with continuous service improvement whilst retaining the robustness and reliability of a structured, interoperable clinical system.