We all feel the pinch at the petrol pump nowadays, even though prices may have come down a bit from their recent highs. This is due to the high price of crude oil, driven by strong demand as a result of post-pandemic economic recovery in many countries, as well as geopolitical developments. 

And yet there is a commodity more valuable than crude oil nowadays as the information economy takes center stage. Data is the crude oil of the information age, according to Mr Jasper Jiang, Head of Technology of EVYD Technology, at a recent panel discussion he moderated on Data Storage, Analytics & Cybersecurity at the Digitalize Healthcare Indonesia conference in Jakarta. 

Despite its immense value, data in the healthcare sector exists in silos. There are also issues with data quality and standards, data openness and security management. As such, like the welcome sight of black gold that gushed upwards in the sky when drillers struck oil in the past, there is a different type of gold that will be more welcome and can be mined from healthcare data. To realize its full value, we need to find ways to better obtain, integrate, manage, apply, protect and analyze data. 

Doing so will deliver immense benefits not only to the health of entire populations and communities, but also right down to each individual. Beyond enabling governments to monitor population healthcare trends in real time to make better policy decisions, doctors will also be able to improve early detection of illnesses. And each person can also receive personalized health recommendations to improve his/her well-being. 

And delivering the greatest value yet to each individual will be the ability to carry his/her personal health records and data anywhere in the world. Imagine receiving the best medical care anywhere in the world, as the local doctor will be able to retrieve your records and immediately customize any treatment you may need. This is made possible through an emerging concept of personal-centred health data – where the storage of healthcare data in future may increasingly develop in a distributed, decentralized and personal-centred direction. 

These were the topics that Mr Jiang and his panelists discussed at the conference. The three panelists were Mr Alvin Lim, Group Technology and Information Security Director of Fullerton Health in Singapore; Mr Ronaldo Yacat Jr, Senior Manager of Medical Informatics and Medical Records of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in the Philippines; and Ms Monique Greene, Lead Information Analyst of the Waitemata District Health Board in New Zealand. 

Prior to the panel discussion, Mr Yacat gave a presentation on the topic “Where do all that patient data go and the importance of storing data”; Ms Greene spoke on “Moving forward: making informed decisions based on data and analytics”; and Mr Lim rounded off the presentations by touching on “Securing data”. 

As a healthcare technology company, EVYD Technology’s solutions enable value-based healthcare that is safer, better and more accessible for countries, communities and individuals. We help our clients and partners integrate healthcare data from disparate sources and leverage artificial intelligence and big data to analyze it. This enables policymakers to enhance public health monitoring, generate insights for policymaking and implement initiatives such as value-based healthcare and population health management.  

In Brunei, we partnered the Ministry of Health to develop the BruHealth app – initially launched as a tool to allow Bruneians to be more vigilant about COVID-19 and for contact tracing. Today, we have evolved BruHealth with the ministry to become a holistic health and wellness app, and Bruneians are already living the futuristic scenario painted earlier of being able to carry their personal health records in the app with them anywhere in the world. Through the app, Bruneians can also make appointment for consultation, screening or vaccination, teleconsult, access tailored health education content and participate in health promotion programs and personalized disease management plans. 

We will continue to push the boundaries of healthcare technology, as part of our commitment to improve the health of entire populations, communities and each individual.