TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED almost every aspect of our lives. The way we communicate, shop, work, travel, consume entertainment and manage our finances has been transformed by the small rectangle in our pocket that runs so much of our lives. It is almost impossible not to engage with technology on a daily basis in some form or another.

Healthcare, particularly in Ireland, has been slower to make the tech transition, but the tide is turning. For generations, our relationship with the health service has been largely physical. We went to the GP, attended a hospital appointment, waited for a letter, picked up a prescription or made a phone call. Increasingly, technology is becoming part of how we interact with our health service, from managing appointments to accessing our own health information at home.

The HSE is in the process of a major digital transformation through its Digital for Care programme, with the ambition of creating a more connected health service where information can be shared more effectively between healthcare professionals, while giving patients greater access to their own health information.

The National Shared Care Record, for example, is being developed to allow authorised healthcare staff to access important patient information across different healthcare settings. The Community Care Record is designed to bring referrals, appointments and caseload information together for community services, while virtual wards are allowing some patients to receive hospital care in their own homes, supported by technology. But perhaps the most visible part of this digital healthcare transformation is sitting in our own pockets via the HSE Health App.

Moving with the times

The HSE Health App is billed as a digital front door to the health service. What began as a way of accessing things such as appointments and health cards has expanded to include waiting-list information, GP referrals, medication prescriptions and personal health........

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