Connectivity underpins next-generation healthcare services but cable theft, legacy infrastructure and unreliable connectivity remain a challenge. How can these be overcome?

Massive strides have been made in recent years to integrate advanced digital technologies into every aspect of healthcare administration, service delivery and medical treatment, offering the prospect of equitable, personalised care for all. But while pockets of healthcare innovation exist and South Africa is hard at work on systems to digitise patient records and consolidate treatment information, a critical challenge stands in the way of the reimagining of healthcare for all considering our migrant workforce.

As the cornerstone for all digital initiatives, connectivity – or a lack of it – can make or break efforts to transform healthcare.
Rampant theft and vandalism of critical infrastructure puts connectivity at risk across the country. Last year, the newly formed Communication Risk Information Centre (COMRiC) comprising mobile network operators said nearly R300 million in damage had been caused to their infrastructure alone, with broader infrastructure theft and damage costing billions per year.

In addition, many primary healthcare facilities and healthcare workers are based in rural and isolated areas where network coverage is non-existent or insufficient for the needs of bandwidth-intensive applications such as remote consultations and sharing medical imagery.

According to the World Health Organisation, 46% of the population lives in rural areas where only 19% of health professionals are based. There is hope that the SA Connect programme will significantly improve broadband access to rural healthcare facilities over the next few years. However, to ensure performance, redundancy and security, the networks supporting healthcare will need to be carefully architected.

Where there are no fibre links, or where cable theft and vandalism is a risk, uWave (microwave) can be deployed for a cost-effective and reliable fixed wireless solution that delivers enterprise-grade connectivity. uWave is designed as an alternative medium for WAN connectivity, offering throughput of up to 1Gbps, enabling real-time applications, data and video collaboration tools to run smoothly.

Satellite broadband services can also be used to take voice and data connectivity to remote isolated areas, with throughput up to 20Mbps, and low jitter. Satellite access is also an affordable backup connectivity solution.

Healthcare authorities will need to take into consideration the need to support not just clinics and hospitals, but also community health workers and mobile facilities. 5G and Wi-Fi 6 offer high throughput, low latency connections that can connect mobile workers and smart ambulances, supporting connected medical imaging and diagnostics, virtual clinical collaboration, remote surgery, asset tracking, smart dispensary and more.

Security is paramount when dealing with patient data and personal information, so services such as a Secure Service Edge (SSE) that include a managed secure web gateway should be implemented to protect data and systems against phishing, malware, ransomware and cyber threats.

Secure, advanced SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) can connect any number of people, with enhanced security for compliance and data protection. SD-WANs can efficiently and securely support IoT networks, connected patient rooms and connected pharmacies.

Dedicated cloud for healthcare and managed cloud services should be integrated to support secure storage of patient records and essential software so that no data is lost, even if facilities are robbed or digital equipment is damaged.

With the basics of reliable, high-speed access networks in place, healthcare service providers can then start progressing on the journey to next-generation healthcare, digitising patient records, securing assets and monitoring patients using IoT, and moving toward the ideal of preventative medicine using big data analytics. They will be positioned to run their operations more efficiently and cost effectively, simplify day-to-day tasks using automation, and reduce risk using artificial intelligence.

In future, they might even harness remote diagnostics and surgery, real-time remote patient monitoring, the use of augmented and virtual reality in medical care, and smart pills capable of live streaming internal examinations.