Here’s what healthcare technology practitioners are saying about the areas of growth and emphasis in an article in Becker’s Healthcare:
Aaron Martin, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer at Providence (Renton) sees “Access optimization in healthcare. Aggregating patient demand, navigating patients to the right care venue (physician, retail, urgent care, telehealth, emergency department, etc.) and then load balancing the supply of clinician time to increase patient access and satisfaction while lowering clinician burnout.
In 2022, it will be patient engagement — creating opportunities for delivering health services, education, and products to patients between episodes of clinical care to truly build a long-term relationship with the patient.”
Karen Murphy, PhD, RN. Chief Innovation Officer at Geisinger feels “the most impactful health tech innovation in 2021 was the evolving use of remote patient monitoring” and believes that when, used correctly, “it will lower total cost of care by avoiding emergency department visits and potentially, readmissions to the hospital.” This she says will require technology integration that enables patient self-management.
Thomas Graham, MD. Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer at Kettering Health believes that the “biggest needle-mover of 2021 was the transition of virtual care from a peripheral technology to an essential tool…The most impact was seen when we were finally forced to flip the switch and adopt what was a novelty as a vital instrument in our day-to-day care.” He sees paradigm change in healing, giving “rise to myriad derivative technologies and even change the regulatory/legislative landscape.”
He says “Telemedicine 2.0 is here to stay and will provide a strong foundation on which to build tomorrow’s advancements.”
Jeffrey Sturman. Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Memorial Healthcare System sees virtual health as the game-changer: “Virtual health broadly includes telehealth, e-consults, e-visits, e-ICU, remote patient monitoring in inpatient and outpatient settings, and many other areas where we have helped our providers engage consumers effectively.”
In addition, he sees artificial intelligence and robotic process automation helping with staffing shortages.
Mark Kandrysawtz, MBA. Chief Innovation Officer at WellSpan Health says the big opportunity is the “increasing focus on application of AI in healthcare — both for enterprise business functions and care delivery. At WellSpan Health, we’ve made investments in clinical and consumer AI and are experimenting with using AI to transform our enterprise to make care more affordable, more effective and easier to use.
