While the Health Reform begins its passage through the Congress of the Republic: Politicians, academics, businessmen and lawyers continue to debate what the Colombian health system really needs. And the truth is that although Colombia has one of the highest health coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean, having 95% of its citizens, according to a World Bank report, the same inconsistencies persist as for years the users have been claiming their Health Promotion Entities (EPS), which are the lack of timely care and access to specialist doctors.
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This situation was also evidenced last year after the National Health Superintendence (Supersalud) reported more than 1,043,026 complaints addressed to the promoting entities, between January and October 2022, which meant an increase of 26% compared to the previous year. same period of 2021. Of that total, the delay in authorizations for procedures, the non-delivery of medications, the denial of treatment or the lack of an available schedule were the most common complaints.
Faced with this panorama of uncertainty, Coco Tecnologías, the Colombian healtech that has developed a whole suite of technological solutions for greater efficiency in medical centers, found, in Artificial Intelligence (AI) what could become the key to save the Colombian health system.
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Robert Parada, CEO of this startup, explains that they are a perfect example, since developing software with AI has allowed different medical centers to be much more efficient and serve 40% more patientsthanks to the automation of traditional channels.
“Within our portfolio, solutions such as ChatBot, intelligent scheduling, intelligent waiting room, patient self-management, appointment assistant, among other tools that make use of AI, it is possible to optimize all the processes that cannot be reached humanly. attend, and this allows patients to be attended quickly, both in the first instance, and with medical specialists”, points out Parada, who adds that they estimate that if this type of technology were applied in 10 medical centers, it would be equivalent to creating three new clinics.
Thanks to this idea of promoting democratization in access to health, more than 300 health centers and 3,000 doctors in four Latin American countries (Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Chile and Mexico) use the software developed by Coco Digital. And right now, its digital solutions are being implemented in more than 140 public hospitals in different municipalities of Antioquia.
Additionally, these tools manage to process around 500,000 monthly appointmentswhich would be equivalent to 20 million transactions per year and, of which, there is an assistance of more than 90% of the patients.
It should be noted that it is no secret to anyone that timely care for people is essential to save lives, however, in the coming years it will represent an increasing challenge, since different analyzes carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO), have pointed out that by 2035 a shortage of almost 12.9 million health workers is projected worldwide. Currently in Colombia, there are around two doctors for every 1,000 inhabitants, while the goal should be 10 for every 1,000.
To address these challenges, the organization highlights the importance of digital technologies to increase universal access and have timely, affordable, person- and community-centered services.
In this way, there are several articles that have considered AI as a technology that can potentially contribute to reducing health inequalities worldwide, something that Robert Parada also agrees with and that could be used in Colombia. , since the problem that comes to solve this type of tools is poor management due to the installed capacity due to high volumes.
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“While many patients are left without attending an appointment with a specialist, on average, doctors with specialties can be left without providing their services to six out of 20 patients a day. The problem is even greater when it is thought that it acts in the form of a chain, since it causes the system to collapse, the clinics are not profitable and there is dissatisfaction on the part of health personnel, among many other factors. It is like this, as a change in policies is not enough, the health system can be renewed hundreds of times, but the reality is that there are no doctors for so many people and this is not going to change in the next four years. The country must make the infrastructure that it already has more efficient, and this is what Coco does.” stated Parada.
To a large extent, the health context has managed to lead Coco Tecnologías to be a fundamental player throughout Latin America, which has earned it different recognitions from Andi, InnPulsa, MinTIC, Fedesoft, Astrazeneca and even from the United Nations, who highlighted its work as one of the startups that has been promoting development objective number three of the SDGs, where they talk about: “Guarantee a healthy life and promote the well-being of all at all ages.”
Now, the CEO of this Colombian healtech affirms that in the coming months, in the midst of the situation regarding the health system that the country is going through, it is in a new round of investment where important funds and personalities have already been added, having as a premise that they are a startup of “social impact, which is profitable and scalable”which will allow them to continue fulfilling their mission of democratizing access to health and, therefore, meeting their goal of closing this year with one million monthly appointments, 1,000 health centers and 5,000 doctors connected on time and even strengthen operations in Latin America.
