Chile - Digital Health

In 2019, Chile created the Department of Digital Health in the Ministry of Health to manage and monitor of technological and communicational tools proposed in the “Hospital Digital,” a government initiative to improve the technology used in the country’s healthcare system. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chile authorized health providers to provide care through telemedicine to ensure continuity of care while medical facilities were prioritizing Covid-19 patients.

Digital Healthcare Trends

There are several digital healthcare trends that are opportunities for U.S. healthcare IT companies as Chile hopes to create a digital health system that is more patient focused and lowers healthcare costs. Chilean healthcare providers are implementing new teleconsultation and communication technologies to transition away from WhatsApp and other basic communication tools. Chilean hospitals and medical offices are deploying digital healthcare records to eliminate paper records and integrate with telemedicine platforms. Patients are also driving the adoption of new healthcare technologies as they recognize the efficiencies they bring to the patient experience. Digital healthcare tools are being incorporated in medical training programs. The adoption of cloud technologies has improved collaboration and information sharing among the hospitals and other medical facilities.

Physicians have noted that locations that are equipped to provide telemedicine services outside the Ministry of Health’s network are scare. While training has become more common, more resources should be dedicated to training medical professionals. The availability of physicians outside of business hours to provide urgent consultations is limited.  There is also a technology barrier in Chile’s older population that do not have internet access and are not comfortable using a computer. Finally, there is an administrative burden to processing reimbursements to healthcare providers for telemedicine services.

Security and privacy are another critical challenge. Chile lacks legislation like the HIPAA law in the United States that provides protections for patient privacy. The National Center for Health Information Systems (CENS in Spanish) and Chile’s public health system have adopted a telemedicine software quality seal that is based on the ISO 25010 standard. The amount of sensitive medical data stored digitally increases the risk cybersecurity attacks requiring that medical facilities ensure that the healthcare information is protected.

For further information, please contact CS Chile Commercial Specialist Claudia Melkonian.