Poland joins league of world leaders in digital medicine
More than half a billion zlotys will go to 18 units across the country for the digitization of clinical trials enabling maximum use of patient health data. This marks a turning point in the discussion on data security and the proper use of information in health care.
The Medical Research Agency has just announced the results of a competition to establish Regional Centers for Digital Medicine. With the allocated funds, 18 units from all over Poland will set up infrastructure to access a large amount of reliable data, while maintaining control over the sources that generate it.
Access to modern digital health infrastructure is essential to improving the way patient care is delivered across the European Union. In a rapidly changing world, the free flow of scientific data is critical to ensuring the health of Europe's population and preparing for new health challenges. A study by the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that by 2025, the rate of growth of data generation in the healthcare sector will be higher than in any other industry sector.
The creation of Regional Centers for Digital Medicine (RCMCs) will be used for both data analysis, support of clinical research and hospital care in the area of digital solutions, and retrospective analysis. The units will include facilities to directly analyze data obtained from biological samples from clinical trial participants.
The establishment of Regional Centers for Digital Medicine in Poland, will undoubtedly be a watershed moment in healthcare and medical research in our country. This multidimensional harmonization of data will catalyze breakthroughs, especially in the field of precision medicine. By using cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, the centers will bring Poland into the league of world leaders in digital medicine. I am convinced that they will act as a catalyst for innovation in healthcare, redefining medical research and patient care, thus ushering our country into a new era of medicine,” assesses Dr. Lukasz Szczerbinski, MD, Center for Clinical Research at the Medical University of Bialystok.
The goal of the Regional Centers for Digital Medicine is to properly and securely collect data, whether from molecular cancer research, IT research from the clinical course of a disease, or the development of innovative technologies. All of this together, gathered in one place improves patient safety by enabling comprehensive data analysis. Thanks to this, we can talk about the progress of medicine, directed at each patient, while improving the quality of health care in Poland. Poland, as a country of 38 million, can be a leader in this field in our part of Europe,” concludes Professor Piotr Rutkowski, MD, PhD, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Oncology Center - Institute.
The creation of the RCMC will contribute to the development of IT solutions in the field of digital medicine allowing the analysis of medical data or tools to facilitate the work of doctors. This will translate into an improvement in the effectiveness of patients' treatment and their access to innovative therapies, which will ultimately help meet the health needs of society and eliminate the barriers currently present in the medical care system.
The established units will be a counterpart, so to speak, to similar already existing centers based on digital data analysis in the United States, among others. Systems such as the MGB Biobank, which integrates data from patients treated at Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals, or the All of Us research program, are now the source of many breakthroughs.