Interview for Faces of Digital Health 2020

1. OCTOBER 24, 2020
F 104 Digital health in
Spain and what is a
liquid hospital? (Cesar
Morcillo Serra)
Spain has a
universal
healthcare
system where
anyone that
pays social
security
contributions is
eligible for
healthcare. In
the
digitalization
sense, Spain
does not have a

2. does not have a
national
institution to
coordinate
digital health
projects.
Instead, each
of the 17
Spanish
regions has
authorities with
their own
budgets.
Spain attributes roughly 9.5% of the
GDP to healthcare. From the
digitalization perspective, one of the
most advanced regions in Spain is
Catalonia.
Progressive
Catalonia
As JMIR Public Health and
Surveillance writes, the region has a
long tradition of health information
exchange in the public health care
sector and is currently implementing

3. an ambitious digital health strategy.
With roughly 7.5 million inhabitants,
Catalonia (Northeast Spain) has been
considered a forerunner of eHealth
adoption in Europe. Since 2009, a
robust information exchange
deployment has allowed health care
providers within the public health
system to share clinical information.
Currently, the region is implementing a
comprehensive digital strategy—it is
just one of the few ambitious initiatives
that is transforming health information
systems in Europe.
As explained by
Cesar Morcillo
Serra, Internal
Medicine
specialist from
Barcelona, the
public
healthcare
system in Spain is very good but is
struggling with waiting times for
procedures and doctor’s visits. This is
why many people decide to buy private
health insurance which costs around
50 to 100 euros monthly. With that,
they get instant access to healthcare.
Health insurance company Sanitas, for
example, offers immediate video
consultations. “We offer video
consultation with the same doctors that
you can visit face to face.We can
manage to do that because we have
more than 3000 doctors working for
Sanitas in Spain. We developed an
algorithm that looks for a free slot in the

4. agenda of the specialist. We are
building something like a ‘physical
doctor on call’, with many specialities
as well,” says Cesar Morcillo Serra.
Driving digital
health
innovation in
hospitals
Sanitas is the leading Spanish health
insurance and service provider and
have been devoted exclusively to
health care for more than 60 years. The
Sanitas’ Cima hospital in Barcelona is
an exemplar in digital innovation
adoption.
Even before COVID, an innovation
platform was established which seeks
to promote entrepreneurship among
employees. Another platform is in
place, that aims to attract startup talent
in areas such as prevention and
genomics, liquid hospital, artificial
intelligence, blockchain, data &
analytics, and robotics.
Join Cesar Morcillo Serra at the Barcelona
Health Hub Summit on 29 October.

5. Health Hub Summit on 29 October.
The hospital recently adopted a new
concept of remote measurement of
vital signs and that is by facial
imaging - people can measure their
heart rate, heart rate variability,
breathing frequency, blood pressure.
This is just one of the components of a
liquid hospital - a new hospital concept
that includes elements of e-Health,
Social networks, Thematic portals, and
virtual spaces. “ In a liquid hospital
there are no barriers between the
customers and Sanitas. We are always
connected with the patients through
our mobile applications. We can get in
contact either through calls, chat, or
video consultations. We did this to
offer them an unforgettable experience.
This is not just about technology, it is
about connecting people and patients
with the healthcare team,” says Cesar
Morcillo Serra.
Tune in for the full discussion.

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Faces of Digital He…
F104 Digital health in Sp…
Some
questions
addressed:

6. • Let’s start with a little bit more
about you. In 2019 you received
the Doctoralia Award for the best
rated Internal Medicine doctor in
Spain and the Best in Class (BIC)
2019 award for the best Internal
Medicine service in Spain. What
are you doing differently
compared to your colleagues
according to your opinion, what is
your approach to medicine?
• Let’s talk about the environment
you work in - the Spanish
healthcare system. Healthcare is
decentralized, run on regional
levels. There are 17 regions in
Spain. How does in your view
access to healthcare, waiting
times, quality, development differ
among regions?
• In terms of digital health, Spain
does not have a national
institution to coordinate digital
health projects. How does
digitalization differ from other
regions in healthcare and what is
the state of interoperability
among regions - if for example,
someone from Barcelona moves
to Madrid, what does it mean for
his healthcare record?
• You are participating in the
eHealth section at the College of
Physicians of Barcelona. This is a
meeting place for doctors
interested in eHealth and the
doctor-patient relationship linked
to the use of information and
communication technologies

7. communication technologies
applied to the healthcare sector.
How “popular” is this section - in
your assessment, what is the
rough estimate of the percentage
of doctors that are taking part?
What I am wondering is, how
many doctors are tech
enthusiast, since, in general,
many have enough on their mind
with their clinical specialty.
• You lead several digitalization
projects inside the hospital you
work in - that is the CIMA
Hospital. Can you tell me more
about the digital health initiatives
inside the hospital? How much
innovation has come out of them?
How exactly are employees
encouraged and engaged?
• The hospital recently adopted a
new concept of remote
measurement of vital signs and
that is by facial imaging - people
can measure their Heart rate,
Heart rate variability, Breathing
frequency, Blood pressure.
That’s very impressive. Can you
tell me more- how was this
validated, tested, approved, etc.
?
https://seguros.sanitas.es/dlandi
ngs/cambiate/display/pr/bluau
• You are driving forward the
concept of a liquid hospital - a
new hospital concept made
possible by technology and new
ways of working towards a
collaborative model among

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collaborative model among
professionals, patients, and
society. It includes elements e-
Health, Social networks,
Thematic portals and Virtual
spaces. eHealth and thematic
portals are quite self-explanatory,
what about social networks and
virtual spaces?
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