{"id":354063,"date":"2026-03-19T09:10:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T09:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/354063\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T09:10:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T09:10:24","slug":"irelands-big-advantage-in-healthcare-it-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/354063\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s big advantage in healthcare IT \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Sir, &#8211; Your recent article about various aspects of the Irish healthcare system overlooks a central reality with regard to IT systems and electronic health records (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/health\/your-wellness\/2026\/03\/17\/how-irish-healthcare-compares-with-other-countries-you-might-be-surprised\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/health\/your-wellness\/2026\/03\/17\/how-irish-healthcare-compares-with-other-countries-you-might-be-surprised\/\">How Irish healthcare compares with other countries: you might be surprised<\/a>,\u201d March 17th). Ireland\u2019s delay in implementing a national system, while often criticised, now presents an opportunity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Yes, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/ireland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/ireland\/\">Ireland<\/a> has lagged behind its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/world\/europe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/world\/europe\/\">European<\/a> peers. But having invested relatively little in large-scale healthcare IT, we are not locked into outdated, monolithic systems that have proven costly and inflexible elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The answer is not a single, all-encompassing system procured through a vast tender process. That approach is expensive, slow and, in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment, the chosen system is inevitably obsolete almost as soon as it is delivered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Instead, Ireland should support multiple, fit-for-purpose systems built within a common, standardised framework that ensures full interoperability. This would allow innovation, adaptability and cost control, while avoiding the risks of a single point of failure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In a field where medical knowledge evolves at extraordinary speed, flexibility is not a luxury but a necessity. The technology to achieve this already exists. What is required now is the imagination to use it intelligently and make a leap forward. &#8211; Yours, etc,<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">DECLAN LYONS,<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Ennis Road,<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Limerick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir, &#8211; Your recent article about various aspects of the Irish healthcare system overlooks a central reality with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":["post-354063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}