The digital revolution that improves life

Healthcare facilities are responsible for over 70% of digital healthcare spending (1.2 billion euros), while the Regions (400 million euros) for almost 25%, with the most substantial growth over the year (+14 %). “In the face of the substantial interventions and funding provided for by the Pnrr, thanks to the digital acceleration dictated by the recent pandemic, Italy is taking considerable steps forward towards a new and true digitization of Italian healthcare”, declares Walter Ricciardi. “A programming, monitoring, evaluation and direction role by the Government and the Regions will be essential for the near future, aimed at facilitating and disseminating a widespread and pervasive development of technologies and innovations”. But the ‘piggy bank’ of the Pnrr will not last forever and certainly the various digital systems, once fully operational, will have to be maintained over time, generating a significant volume of operating costs: how will digitization be sustainable, therefore, after the Pnrr? “If there are no other funds, starting from 2026 onwards, all the investments made thanks to the Pnrr will either not work or will work poorly, not reaching the expected objectives”, replies Giorgio Moretti, president of Dedalus, the main supplier of health and diagnostic software in Europe and one of the largest in the world (to get an idea, 1 out of 2 Italians has a family doctor who uses Dedalus software to prescribe medicines and visits, as does the analysis laboratory report 7 times out of 10). “The only way not to frustrate these investments – explains Moretti – is to allocate a portion of the National Health Fund by binding it to the maintenance and optimization of digital health care.

The European average is 3.3% in Information and Communications Technology health compared to the health GDP but currently in Italy we are less than 1.5%”. Money that truly represents a valuable investment for everyone because it is able to generate savings: “A correct use of funds in sensible projects leads to savings of over 10 billion as repeatedly estimated by third parties and by the Ministry itself”, underlines Moretti who concludes: “The risk is that the country is not ready to make the most of these investments in such a short time. Only with a coordinated and shared effort between public bodies and the companies that produce these tools can the return on these investments be maximized”.