Digital Transformation in Health from Ibn-i Sina (Avicenna) to Telemedicine

I would like to start with a Turkish scientist from the past, about 1000 years ago, who is one of the founders of modern medicine and achieved the title of "the best physician of the period": Ibn-i Sina…

Ibn Sina discovered blood is a nutrients-carrying liquid, and he revealed the existence of microbes in addition to many of his discoveries and also suggested microbes may be the cause of transmission of certain ailments. And what’s more, he accomplished all that at a time when the microscope had not been dreamt up yet. Moreover, another interesting fact, Ibn Sina is the first scientist to introduce the concept of quarantine, which we hear frequently these days, in the 1st Century as a method to prevent the transmission of microbes from person to person, and Venetian merchants learned about it from Ibn Sina's writings and started to apply in Italy as late as in the 14th Century.

The plague, which mankind fought 1000 years ago, again lifts its head as a pandemic today. Epidemics, which pushed famous Turkish scientists such as Ibn Sina to discoveries with limited means, today force the health sector to find vaccines, early diagnosis, and various treatment methods. Today, unlike 1000 years ago, we enjoy wielding an extremely crucial capability to support our valuable scientists: the "technology".

Thanks to technology, the time required for those inventions that may take about a century is reduced to months or weeks time. Today, with video health services, we can have our basic physical examination and start our treatment without even visiting hospitals. With wearable devices, our doctors constantly monitor our vital signs and take the necessary actions. All these constitute a preview of how major a change health technology can create in our lives. And indeed, the catalyst behind the discovery, rapid spread, and rapid adaptation of all these technologies is the pandemic we experience.

It is not a new issue that pandemic-eras inspire technology… I would like to give an example from the cholera days in the 1800s. When the world was struggling to fight cholera in the 19th Century, the concept of microorganisms had not yet emerged, and it was believed that the disease spread through polluted air and bad odor with also the effect of industry and urbanization. Even though many measures were taken including spending more time in the fresh air and food restrictions, etc. the spread could not be stopped. Then came forth, the data-loving doctor John Snow, known for his studies in anesthesia, to create a break in the history of cholera with his geographical data analysis methods.

Dr. Snow believed that the disease spread through the sewer system in the previous pandemic attack, but he could not get this idea accepted by either the government or the water company responsible for the network. In 1854, the spread was accelerating in the Soho Broad Street area of London, and death rates were rising in the densely populated urban areas. Dr. Snow thought that the spread was caused by the water network and to prove his point, collected individual cases in the settlements, researched patients' histories, mapped the data he obtained, and discovered the source of the spread. With the spatial data of the deaths caused by a pump on a street corner, he asked the authorities to turn off the pump, and the spread of the epidemic shrank with the breaking of the pump.

This case in point shows us how a simple data analysis saves many lives in the days of cholera.

All these developments and solutions actually bring us step by step closer to the personalized, predictable, preventive health services that we have been talking about for a long time and which we call the "future vision in healthcare". As I mentioned above, we are realizing the "future vision" together with the catalytic effect of the pandemic. We are experiencing this transformation together, right now.

In line with our future vision in healthcare, we are expanding our portfolio and ecosystem with innovative technologies for the digitalization needs of the health sector after Covid19, as well as technological solutions such as Security, Cloud, and Network, which are vital for the sector. I would like to mention some of our Digital Health Solutions targeting the Pandemic.

With the Online Health Services, we ensure that the healthcare sector provides uninterrupted service also during the pandemic period.

With Social Distancing Solutions we make a significant contribution to the protection of the health care personnel and patients.

By making Air Controls with the Smart Air Quality Measurement Solution, we contribute to the prevention of virus spread especially in hospitals and operating rooms.

We provide Home Health Services through Wearable Technologies and continue our efforts to relieve the burden of hospitals as much as possible during this period.

As it can be understood from all these efforts, we pay great attention to and invest in the digitalization of the health sector, and hence, in health informatics and technologies. Our priority is to develop sector-specific solutions, using technology for people and health.

Accordingly, while we support the needs of the sector with the solutions I mentioned, we continue our works toward a data-based and technology-oriented predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory healthcare sector, which is the vision of the future.

At the beginning of my lines, I mentioned the achievements of Turkish scientist Ibn Sina 1000 years ago. Today, I take great pleasure in imagining the 100 years from today thanks to the momentum we will create in the sector together with the power of technology behind us and under the leadership of esteemed Turkish scientists who follow the path of Ibn-i Sina.

I sincerely believe that we will leave a completely digital health system to the future generations with the transformation we are experiencing now.