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Innovation in healthcare: ‘Doctors and pharmacies are increasingly going to take on an important role’

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Danny Mekić was invited to be a speaker at the Mediq Uitblinkersfestival (Mediq Excellence Festival) on the 30th of May. The event was organised for 1500 pharmacy workers and had a diverse programme including various inspiring workshops on the themes of ‘innovation’, ‘health care’ and ‘creativity’.

NewTeam’s speakers are specialised in technological innovation among other things, and so the ‘innovation’ workshops of this day were held by Danny Mekić (technology expert). Danny Mekić discussed the future of health care, and particularly the part pharmacies will play in it. Think of possibilities like having medication delivered by drone from now on. Drones are going to be put to use more and more. Recently a student at the Delft University of Technology designed an ‘ambulance drone’ that can reach a victim within a minute (at a speed of 100 km/h). The ambulance drone is equipped with medical tools that can, among other things, improve cardiac arrest victims’ survival rate to 80% instead of the current 8%.

Danny Mekić is very enthusiastic about the future role of pharmacies in the health care sector, because doctors and pharmacies are increasingly going to take on an important role as insurance companies become more powerful. “I hope both doctors and pharmacies will continue to develop until they are absolutely on the patient’s side. This is not just about taking responsibility for the condition of the patient’s body, but also for their data.”

About the Electronic Health Records system in the Netherlands (now known as the National Switching Point (LSP)), Danny Mekić has voiced criticism as well: “I don’t know a single IT professional that I respect who would have created a patient records system as poorly made as this one.” Danny thinks data should remain in the hands of the patient and their doctor, and should under no circumstance end up in a central database where they can be unwantedly analysed by insurance companies and the Googles of the world.