Digital Transformation is the Revolutionary Change Healthcare Needs

Due to one of the most challenging global crises in living memory and one that presented an acute challenge for the medical community, healthcare providers find themselves operating within an uncertain landscape. They are still managing the fallout of COVID-19 while also planning for the future.

People are placing more importance on health needs and work-life balance. The work-from-home revolution has seen demographics shift as people move out of cities since they are less tied to a particular office or client site. Demands on healthcare services and physical healthcare infrastructure are changing, and as a result, budget setting and business planning can feel more precarious.

The pandemic has also seen a shift in the use of digital technology within healthcare services. Patients have been able to use online tools that have made access to some healthcare services more efficient and, in many cases, reduced the need for in-person visits.

With populations shifting and service provision evolving, it can be challenging for healthcare providers to keep up with demand, particularly given how long it can take to assess requirements and effect change across their organisations.

As a result of these shifts, healthcare providers may find that their most costly asset, their physical space, is underused. Their capital projections may be tied to pre-Covid budgeting plans and do not reflect the needs of today.

Additionally, business operations continue to focus on maintaining the status quo in a challenging environment, but management decisions might rely on inaccurate data from legacy technology systems or even paper-based records. As a result, there is little consistency across data sets, and information must be located, extracted, analyzed and then integrated to glean the intelligence needed to inform business planning. This is not only time-consuming. It is highly ineffective.

Digital tools

We’ve seen how digital transformation drives efficiency, enhancing executive decision-making by providing accurate and timely data, and operational decisions across diverse departments (facilities, capital projects, real estate, finance, etc.) can be similarly enhanced. But an effective data management strategy is essential to this evolution. Otherwise, you will only recreate your existing challenges in the digital environment.

It is vital that everyone involved in the adoption of digital tools is included in the process from the very beginning. Bringing about digital transformation requires users to change how they work; people can find change challenging. By bringing everyone on board from the get-go, you can help ensure a successful transition across your entire healthcare organisation.

To succeed, digital transformation must also eliminate siloed work practices. If different departments input data into a system in different ways, the process will inevitably fail. Digital transformation can break down information silos and combine data to produce accurate intelligence, but only if it is supported by people, processes and tools across the entire operation.

A well-executed, collaborative digital transformation enables critical business decisions to be based upon current and accurate data. It also means that when audits and regulators request information, the data must be easily accessible and accurate.

The healthcare sector can benefit greatly from effective digital transformation. Moving toward systems that rely on digital tools ensures the optimisation of the built environment, improving the use of space and assets. But the process must be undertaken in a way that alleviates rather than creates challenges. By partnering with leading digital transformation experts, healthcare providers can be supported in their transition to new processes and technologiehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinanascimento/s that enable better, more strategic, information-based decisions.

Carolina Nascimento is director of digital solutions at Enstoa, a digital transformation company headquartered in New York.