Sírio-Libanês launches brand for data and technology

Hospital Sírio-Libanês launches, this Wednesday (30), a brand that, in general terms, will centralize technology, data and digital innovation actions related to health. This is the Syrian-Lebanese Soul.

According to hospital representatives, the initiative can be a place to help think about the future of health —which goes through the digital universe— and to help the organization go beyond hospital care, with an eye towards preventive medicine.

The idea is that the new operating arm of the traditional hospital has a footprint closer to that of startups. With this, it is expected, for example, more agility of processes and attraction of talents beyond the medical area, such as data scientists and statisticians.

“If you are going to discuss the health of the future, perhaps a hospital is not the best institution to discuss”, says Christian Tudesco, director of marketing at Sírio-Libanês. “We see that the projects via Alma will expand Sírio’s contact points with the Brazilian population.”

Alma will operate in a building outside the hospital, but in front of one of the entrances to the site, in the Bela Vista region of São Paulo, while maintaining a certain level of separation and connection. Along the same lines, there is also a visual identity for the initiative.

“As we already have recognition, we need to derive this in the Alma brand to bring a more modern, daring and restless footprint, which connects digital products with youth”, says Ailton Brandão, Sírio’s director of innovation.

The hospital will invest around BRL 200 million in Alma by 2030. Despite the launch this Wednesday, the initiative is already in operation.

In practice, with data, Alma intends to help change or streamline some processes. The idea is that part of this will be possible with the incubation of startups by Sírio, who will become a partner in the companies.

And the first incubation has already taken place with the startup Sofya, which has been active with Sírio for eight months. According to Diego Aristides, IT director at Sírio-Libanês, Sofya’s idea is to reduce the effort required for anamnesis (medical interview) and filling out medical records. In short: reduce medical bureaucracy.

For this, says Aristides, the application developed converts voice to text and, with the data available about the person, uses artificial intelligence to point out possible issues related to a patient, such as risk of falls and medication schedules.

“The professional spends more time taking care of the patient and not imputing data”, says Aristides.

According to Sírio representatives, one of the important points related to Alma is the possibility of development with the participation of the hospital’s clinical staff.

Even with the development of technology in one arm of the Sírio, the idea is that the possible innovations created are made available to other players in the market — something that already happens with Sofya, for example, say the representatives.

All this leads to an idea of ​​a hospital with a data-driven operation. There is the possibility, for example, of increasingly using behavioral data, such as apparently simple information captured on smartwatches. Or, something even simpler, observe day-to-day performance bottlenecks within the hospital itself, such as areas with idle teams or many queues.

In the midst of the digital advancement of medicine, Sírio representatives also highlight the presence of areas related to cybersecurity at Alma, considering that the initiative will deal with potentially sensitive patient data.

Cyber ​​attacks on health entities are already a reality. Such offensives can even stop hospitals and, consequently, prevent care and endanger people’s lives.