Medistance is disrupting the healthcare system of an entire nation with SAP Business One powered by SAP HANA.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults and 42 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese. Why does it matter?
Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases which were the leading cause of death in 2012. Obesity is preventable. While personal dietary and physical activity patterns play a key role, more importantly, the lack of supportive policies in sectors such as health, agriculture, transport, urban planning, food processing, marketing and education is the real issue.
One Patient, One Set of Data
Rudof Mezei, an economist who is the managing director for Medistance in Hungary, says one way to drive more supportive policies is to give all stakeholders a single view of a patient’s data.
“National healthcare systems are typically able to measure the amount of money spent per patient, but they are not able to measure the efficiency of the prescribed treatment. In Hungary, we measure the amount of medication, but we are not able to monitor the changes in the health of the nation,” says Mezei. “Without regular home monitoring we are not really influencing the overall health care budget when it comes to diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, or obesity.”
Here’s where a community healthcare approach based on regularly monitored patient data can make a crucial difference. That’s what Medistance has set out to accomplish. The program, which is running several large projects in Hungary and abroad, is an intelligent healthcare solution that connects general practices, specialist practices, hospitals and insurance providers, so everyone, even relatives, get the same view of the patient. Healthcare experts, and decision makers can also view continously aggregated patient data in different dimensions such as region, population segment, or healthcare category.
Mobilizing Against Disease with Technology
Medistance uses clinically validated medical devices with machine-to-machine (M2M) technology set up in scalable fleets to collect data that is managed, stored and analyzed with SAP Business One powered by SAP HANA in the cloud. People can measure and transmit their personal health data from the comfort of their homes, while healthcare providers and family members can share data and interactively make changes that are suggested by preset threshold alarms.
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“Having a holistic view of patient data is an eye opener for all parties. While some doctors originally resisted the concept thinking it was yet another control mechanism, they soon realized that pre-evaluated clinically valid data adds great value because it is completely secure and trustworthy,” says Mezei. “On top of that, the system uses clinical protocol based algorithms to make intelligent recommendations for doctors in terms of next steps in a treatment plan. If you add wearable technology to the equation, the system can also make personalized suggestions based on the patient’s lifestyle.”
Medistance, a strategic SME project for SAP across Europe, is disrupting the healthcare landscape of entire countries and even regions. With pilots ranging from Scandinavia to the Middle East, Medistance can help disparate countries and systems understand the benefits of optimizing and standardizing health care in order to create those kinds of policies that can truly impact the well-being of large segments of the population.
The Disruptors is a series of short stories of customer innovation from around the world. Read more stories from The Disruptors series.
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