The Fourth Industrial (IR 4.0) has brought unprecedented changes to work.
A 2018 Deloitte report characterised the Fourth Industrial Revolution as "a mixture of hope and doubt". IR 4.0 technologies have caused the loss of millions of jobs and widened income and socioeconomic disparities.
On a positive note, a McKinsey report this year noted that 94 per cent of companies it surveyed said that IR 4.0 technologies have helped them to keep their operations running during the pandemic.
Fifty-six per cent said these technologies had been critical in responding to the crisis.
The ubiquitous use of computer technologies in numerous sectors — such as the Internet of things, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, cloud computing, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI) — has changed the way we live and work.
And these technologies have created opportunities for sustainability and improvement in the health sector. It is estimated that 60 per cent of activities in the health sector involve information exchange capable of automation.
In healthcare, we witness the positive impact of technologies, such as high-fidelity-simulated manikin, mobile patient-vital-signs monitoring, humanoid robot providing nursing procedures, portable ECG with a smartphone, portable handheld ultrasound and medical drones.
It is still early to assess the long-term impact of these technologies on the health sector and its workers. Notwithstanding, here are five strategies to prepare healthcare workers to be more resilient against the onslaught of these disruptive technologies:
FIRST, they should engage in lifelong learning, and grab the opportunity for continual professional development to update their knowledge, skills and competencies in their fields of specialisation.
To remain relevant in a digital environment, they should master and adapt the technology for patient care. Healthcare workers should be in control rather than let technology make patients mere objects.
The application of technology is more important than the technology itself;
SECOND, healthcare workers should redefine their roles in the light of technological development. They should ensure that the technology is geared to the needs of patients, instead of patients being made to fit the technology.
They must apply the healthcare philosophy that health service is the ultimate expression of caring. They should practise person-centred care and ensure that the technology keep patients at the centre of the healthcare ecosystem;
THIRD, healthcare workers must train themselves to multitask. They must be T-sharp health workers. This means that they should have broad skill sets and a specialisation in at least one field.
In short, they must be a jack of all trades and master of one to carry out diversified roles in health-service delivery;
FOURTH, healthcare personnel should plan the care of patients with the aid of AI. Using AI to complement human interventions will ensure better patient care as AI cannot replace or outperform the human touch.
Combining AI with knowledge, experience and critical-thinking skills of the health worker would result in better clinical decision-making and improved patient care; and,
LASTLY, compassion and empathy must be at the heart of patient care. Unlike machines, health workers can react to unpredictable emotional situations.
Receiving medical care is a very emotional experience. A machine cannot comprehend these subtle aspects of humanity.
To be relevant in a technological world, healthcare workers can leave the more routine and repetitive tasks to machines while they attend to more complex issues.
Health workers should become involved in the development of technology to ensure that it is patient centric.
There is a need to incorporate technology and machine learning in healthcare curriculums. Machine technologies can never replace clinical practice.
So, health workers need not fear their job security. If health workers are willing to grow professionally and keep pace with technology, they will always remain relevant.
The writer is an associate professor and dean of the Faculty of Allied Health Professions, AIMST University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times