There is a question that lingers in the minds of those involved in healthcare: will the introduction of the Green Pass (with the announced restrictions) and the vaccination campaign (aiming for 80% by September) be enough to bring our hospitals and clinics back to a state of ‘normality’?
Will the PNRR funds be sufficient to achieve the goal of moving beyond the Coronavirus emergency? And above all, how can we make up for the time lost due to the pandemic?
The answer to these questions is unfortunately long and complex, but perhaps what we really need to ask ourselves is whether a return to normality is enough for the Italian healthcare system.
The opportunity provided by European funds and the renewed awareness of how essential the healthcare sector is for civilized living should direct our attention to the need for modernization of the system. Over the past two years, screenings have plummeted, prevention campaigns for diseases (even serious ones) have drastically decreased, elective surgeries have often been postponed, and only urgent procedures were prioritized. Patients were the main victims of this inevitable collapse, as anyone tried to stay as far away from hospitals and emergency rooms as possible during a time when even going out for groceries seemed to expose us to the risk of contracting the virus.
Yet solutions do exist.
We still do not know how the autumn will unfold, but the situation seems to be nearing the end of the pandemic tunnel, at least for countries that have had access to medications and vaccines.
For once, Italy managed to show a unified front in the face of a grave threat, and we have the opportunity to make concrete progress.
So the question is: do we want to return to ‘normality’?
If we settle for this, we would be guilty of naivety.
The Italian healthcare system has proven to be resilient and robust (thanks also to the heroism and sacrifice of individuals), but the system needs innovation.
The goal should be innovation in healthcare, reducing waiting lists, early diagnosis, better use of assets, and patient tracking.
Hospitals must equip themselves with effective data analysis tools and widely utilize IoT. We need to accelerate to make up for lost time and ensure excellent performance.
‘Normality’ is not enough. Let’s exit the emergency with technological acceleration and aim to solve even pre-Covid issues.
It’s an ambitious goal for those content with mediocrity, but let’s ask ourselves: when we go to a hospital or clinic, what do we ask for? Excellence, not ‘normality’. Health is the most precious asset, and the Italian healthcare system cannot be satisfied with merely returning to the performance levels of 2018.
