Eduardo Antunes, Executive Board Member of Glintt, talks about the impact of technology on the healthcare sector.
Healthcare is one of the sectors where digitalization has had the greatest impact. What has changed in the relationship between clients and healthcare providers?
It’s true that, in recent years, players in this sector have made an effort to improve the relationship between healthcare providers and their clients/patients. We know that factors such as an aging population, the rise in chronic diseases, events like epidemics and pandemics, resource shortages, rising costs, among others, will continue to put enormous pressure on the sector — which is why technology must be a catalyst for change in healthcare.
There’s no doubt that digital transformation and emerging technologies have revolutionized the healthcare sector.
There has been a shift in mindset and a growing concern with putting citizens and their needs at the center of healthcare. However, there are still areas where the full extent of desired improvements hasn’t yet been felt. We can’t keep doing everything the same way, over and over, expecting different results. We have to stop, think, reform and act — but differently. Even putting technology at the service of current processes isn’t enough. These processes also need to be rethought and, when necessary, changed. Only then can the sector achieve service excellence. At Glintt, this has been our focus: we have the processes, we have the right skills, and our solutions already provide answers to many of these challenges.
Glintt has 25 years of experience in the sector. What difference does this know-how make, and in which areas do Glintt’s solutions have the greatest impact?
We are the largest Portuguese-rooted technology company operating in the healthcare sector, and we’re proud of that. This gives us added responsibility toward our partners, with the goal of contributing to the sector’s transformation. In our Healthcare division, we have more than 320 employees and are present in more than 500 clients (such as hospitals and clinics), mainly in Portugal and Spain, although we also have solutions in other geographies (such as Latin America). Over the years, we have invested in and developed technology solutions, and today we can say we operate in practically every area (hospital pharmacy, logistics, administration, clinical, inpatient care, nutrition, among many others). Looking at the sector’s various business areas, you can find a Glintt solution in each one of them.
It’s our extensive experience and scale that truly sets us apart in the Iberian market. This is likely also why, under COTEC Portugal’s Connect 4.0 program, we were chosen as the anchor company for this sector.
How is Glintt approaching innovation, as consumers increasingly demand customized and agile solutions?
Innovation has to be part of our daily thinking. Data strategy, security, interoperability, artificial intelligence and the hospitals of the future are examples of areas where we are actively working, incorporating and developing innovative solutions. We are collaborating with several partners to strengthen the skills we want to expand, thereby broadening our offering. We are also leveraging all our know-how and solutions, reorganizing and rethinking them — both functionally and technologically — into smaller, independent and interoperable modules, making the most of our intellectual property. In practice, we are leveraging our 25 years of experience to be more agile and effective in responding to the sector’s challenges, in order to achieve the service excellence mentioned above.
Glintt today has a strong presence in Portugal and Spain. What are the plans for the future?
The major project for the immediate future is the launch, already this October, of an innovative new platform of specialized solutions and services for the healthcare sector. It will be a platform with a different concept, one we believe will give us the agility the ecosystem needs, providing greater functional and technological knowledge, and allowing various solutions to connect with one another. Over the coming years, we will invest heavily in launching new solutions and modules as part of this platform. We are also challenging various partners and clients to join us on this transformation journey, and we will introduce new business models with benefits for all parties involved. Our ambition is enormous.
We want to grow our workforce, strengthen our presence in Portugal and Spain, and expand into other countries.
As a Portuguese-rooted company, our ambition — together with our partners and clients — is to carry Portugal’s name beyond its borders.
Source: O Jornal Económico
