The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on the care and management of patients with cancer. Hospitals and healthcare centers globally had to decrease their functioning capacity due to the redeployment of healthcare staff to deal with the pandemic and also maintain social distancing measures in accordance with government restriction guidelines. Many digital health innovations have sprung up in the digital oncology space. These innovations provide both hope and promise to clinicians, patients, and caregivers in terms of improved cancer care and management in the new normal. But how has COVID-19 impacted the care and management of patients with cancer? How has digital health technologies shaped the field of oncology? How will such technologies benefit cancer care as we embark on the new normal? What should stakeholders of digital oncology innovations be aware of in order to ensure the successful adoption of these technologies? Join me as we explore the answers to these questions.
Requirements
No prerequisites needed. This course is for beginners who want to know about the current hype and technological trends in the digital oncology space, and how digital health innovations can potentially benefit the care and management of patients with cancer.
How long will it take to complete this course?
Approximately 2 hours of lectures and a quiz.
What is this course about?
COVID-19 created unique challenges in the care of cancer patients, such as the risk of their cancers going undetected or progressing due to delays, cancellations or postponements of screenings and treatment. Additionally, patients abstained from hospital visits and oncology clinicians cancelled or delayed surgeries and chemo/radiation therapies due to the potential risk of getting COVID-19. The unexpected “side-effect” of the pandemic was the acceleration and massive adoption of digital health technologies in cancer care and management.
It is becoming clear that digital oncology innovations are becoming one of the hottest trends in cancer care – from improving cancer diagnoses to predicting drug responses and personalizing therapies. We are in an era of healthcare whereby digitalization is no longer just about the newest piece of technology, but rather how the technological innovation can shape the design and management of healthcare.
In this course, you will gain an understanding of how COVID-19 has impacted the cancer care landscape and the field of digital oncology. We shall explore some of the current and emerging digital health innovations and trends targeting the cancer care space. Finally, I shall end the course with a discussion on what are the key factors that need to be considered by various stakeholders (e.g. healthcare innovators, clinicians, tech developers, government regulators, start-ups, funders/venture capitalists, business stakeholders, etc) who want to venture into the digital oncology space, in order to ensure the successful and sustainable adoption of digital health innovations for cancer care and management.