Leo Exter: “We don’t have to wait for the system to catch up with us – we have to act now”

In general, we all like to work on projects to achieve concrete results. Big bang projects. Leo Exter, founder of Hack Belgium Labs, knows something about that. Participants in the events he organizes, such as Hack Healthcare, first and foremost discuss the concrete results they want to achieve. With HackBelgiumLabs, the focus is mainly on shorter projects that can produce results within 12 to 18 months. And this is what we also have to do in a broader medium-term perspective.

The collaboration

What is already happening and what we need to do more and more is to talk to each other. Talking about the problems we face and the goals we are pursuing. That’s exactly what happens at Hack Belgium Labs events. What Leo Exer finds is that participants discover how much they have in common and how similar the problems they face are. That’s why joint projects work so well.

There are a lot of common problems in the ecosystem. Our job is to identify them and get people to understand that collaboration is necessary for change.

Leo Exter, founder van Hack Belgium Labs

Step by step

The will is there. However, it’s important to understand that not everyone is at the same level of “maturity” yet. Not everyone is ready to go as fast and as hard as they should. Further complicating matters is the way healthcare is financed in Belgium and the extent to which the government is currently willing to fund it.

We can’t change things overnight. It has to be done step by step.

Leo Exter, founder van Hack Belgium Labs

Leo Exter is convinced, however, that we will get there. The only question is how fast. And perhaps more importantly: what can we do in the meantime? What happens to people who were not diagnosed at screening, or to people who were not even screened?

Leo says we need to continue to look at the possibilities and opportunities to do things differently. We don’t have to wait for the system to catch up to us – it will eventually, but we have to act now.

Our duty

It is our duty to act now and to be creative and collaborative in finding new business models and new ways of operating – we need to involve everyone who has contact with patients or potential patients in the overall vision.

Healthcare will change. There is no doubt about that. But before that happens, initiatives like ours, #1Patient1Record4Belgium, will be needed to move forward. Fortunately, Belgium has no shortage of such initiatives. According to Leo, it is by working together more that we can really make a difference.

If we all work together and agree on what needs to be done, we can start working on quick wins and small steps forward.

Leo Exter, founder van Hack Belgium Labs 

How do you see a solution? How can we work together to ensure that vital information is available so that healthcare providers, patients, and other stakeholders can access it securely, when and where they need it? Share your ideas with us in the comments.

Let’s work together to create #1Patient1Record4Belgium.

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