How We Can Treat Patients Today While Preventing Illness Tomorrow?
Image created by Rudy Chidiac. © Open Medical 2025. All Rights Reserved
Prevention is the future of healthcare. But there are still millions of patients who need treatment today.
We can’t take care away from those who need it now. At the same time, we can’t afford to ignore the opportunity to stop illness before it escalates because, without prevention, the cycle continues.
Treat, recover, treat again, repeat.
People live longer, but often with worsening health and increasing dependence on care.
So what if we could treat and prevent at the same time?
The opportunity is there in nearly every patient interaction. But with stretched capacity and fragmented systems, there is simply not enough time or resources to look beyond the immediate episode of care.
With the right tools in place, however, clinicians can continue delivering the treatment patients need today while enabling the prevention that protects tomorrow without additional burden on them.
Let’s look at two scenarios:
How digital preoperative assessments can prevent more than surgical risk
A man in his late fifties arrives at the hospital for a routine hernia repair. During final checks before his operation, the anaesthetist notices his blood sugar is unusually high.
They didn’t know he was diabetic, but since it’s a low-risk procedure, the surgery goes ahead. He’s advised to follow up with his GP, and a standard discharge letter is sent electronically to the practice.
But nothing comes of it.
The system assumes the patient will follow through, but he doesn’t. He knows about his diabetes. He was diagnosed a few years ago when his levels were only slightly elevated and was told to manage it through diet and exercise. He never felt particularly unwell, so it never felt urgent.
After surgery, life picks up again. Work is busy, time passes, and the GP appointment never gets made. Without symptoms or structured follow-up, his condition continues, silently progressing.
A year later, he’s back in hospital. This time with a diabetic foot ulcer that’s become infected and facing serious complications…
Now imagine the same scenario, but at a hospital using a digital preoperative assessment tool. Using what we know, we’ll take Pathpoint ePOA as an example.
As soon as he’s listed for surgery, he receives a digital screening questionnaire. Once completed, his responses generate a complexity score, and his diabetes is flagged. A POA nurse reviews his case weeks ahead of surgery and adds a diabetic specialist to his pathway.
He’s contacted for a review, his condition is assessed, and he’s started on a stabilisation plan. His blood sugar is managed before surgery, but he also has a long-term care plan initiated alongside it. The diabetic team uses a remote monitoring platform and follow-up questionnaires are sent automatically after surgery. He’s asked how he’s feeling, whether he’s attending check-ups, and if his medication is working. If something’s wrong, the system flags it. Someone follows up.
He came in for surgery. He left with a long-term health plan.
Improving fracture care by preventing the next one
A woman is walking with her daughter and son-in-law on a frosty evening, heading to a local restaurant to celebrate her 65th birthday.
But as they cross the road, she slips on a patch of ice and falls, fracturing her wrist.
She’s taken to the hospital, where the fracture is treated. It’s a low-impact fall and given her age, the orthopaedic team suspects underlying osteoporosis. Thankfully, they have a Fracture Liaison Service (FLS), so they make a phone call but there’s no answer. The FLS team must be busy, but so are they, so they make a note to try again later.
Later never comes.
A year passes. The same woman falls again. This time, she fractures her hip. Her recovery is slower, more painful, and she loses confidence in her mobility, never fully returning to her previous level of independence.
Now imagine the same scenario in a hospital using a digital solution like Pathpoint eTrauma integrated with Pathpoint FLS.
She comes into the hospital with her broken wrist and as soon as she’s added to the eTrauma system, the nature of her injury and age automatically flag it as a potential fragility fracture. The system refers her instantly to the FLS team, who receive her full clinical details through a dedicated worklist. She’s booked for an assessment, and from there, she’s started on preventative treatment. She gets the support she needs before another fall ever happens.
She came in for treatment. She left with prevention.
Bringing prevention into every care pathway
These aren’t isolated opportunities; they exist in almost every speciality. In respiratory care, earlier identification of lung decline could prevent emergency admissions. In cardiology, automated flags in rehab pathways could stop avoidable readmissions. Prevention doesn’t have to—and shouldn't—come at the cost of treatment, but instead be built into the pathways that already exist. Prevention can become the natural extension of care, quietly protecting the patient beyond their discharge.
It’s how we stop treating the same people again and again. It’s how we reduce pressure on frontline services. It’s how we make healthcare sustainable.
Book a demo and speak to our team to find out how we can help address your problems today while making your operations future proof.
