Guide to Digital Transformation in Healthcare

The Dawn of Healthcare’s Digital Transformation

There was a time when only highly skilled professionals worked in the healthcare industry. Technology breakthroughs have made it possible for healthcare to undergo a digital revolution, with improved outcomes for both patients and healthcare providers using digital healthcare solutions. Given that 88% of healthcare IT experts and leaders questioned by Deloitte stated that improving the patient experience is the primary focus of their investments, these technologies are on course to do just that.

Additionally, the Deloitte study showed that approximately 92% of healthcare facilities anticipate improved performance from the patient-centric business development approach.Graph of the healthcare industry market development prognosis in US (2021-2030)

According to a research analysis by Global industry Insights, Inc., the global digital healthcare industry is projected to be valued $504.4 billion by 2025. It’s evident that the healthcare sector is realizing the transformative potential of digital transformation solutions. It also indicates that the sector is looking for technology advancements to support the digital transformation of the healthcare sector.

It is essential for all healthcare professionals to stay up to date with the continuous digital transformation, whether they are physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, or other caregivers. The significance of digital transformation, its advantages for all parties involved, and the upcoming innovations and developments driving this trend in healthcare are all covered in this article.

What is Digital Transformation in the Healthcare Industry?

We must first define digital transformation in order to comprehend its potential and extent for enhancing healthcare services. The process of actively employing technology to provide value to patients and healthcare organizations in a way that maximizes benefits for both is known as digital transformation in healthcare.

It’s important to remember that the goal of digital healthcare is to maximize advantages. It is a methodical, deliberate use of technology to address issues in healthcare. One cannot consider the use of Google to misdiagnose oneself before seeing a doctor as an example of a digital healthcare transformation!

Technologies such as WebMD that convert consumers into unprepared physicians are a good example of how they conflict with the goals of digital healthcare. All it does is increase the inefficiency of the treatment procedure. Health wearables and patient portals that offer helpful information to both the patient and the doctor would be better examples of the digital transformation in healthcare.

 

The healthcare industry, like all industries, stands to gain a great deal from a digital revolution. The COVID-19 epidemic of late demonstrated how urgently infrastructure supporting telehealth and other distant, virtual healthcare solutions has to be developed. Additionally, more individuals than ever before may access digital healthcare solutions thanks to the increasing globalization of the internet and gadgets in daily life.

The healthcare business will undergo positive changes due to digital transformation, as evidenced by the aforementioned examples of patient portals, health wearables, and telehealth services. As new technology continues to impact the healthcare sector, advancements in disease history analysis, automation, and on-demand medical services can also be anticipated.

Key Drivers of Digital Transformation in Healthcare

As change never happens in a vacuum, a number of other variables have also had an impact on the digital transformation of healthcare. We need to look at the reasons behind the growing acceptance of digital healthcare solutions in order to understand why there is a shift in the sector. The following are the main forces behind healthcare’s digital transformation:

New and Emerging Technology

Technological advances have made exciting strides in the past year. Never has a world seamlessly connected by the internet looked so close. Artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data are examples of digital transformation services in healthcare that have the potential to be very beneficial. In the near future, technology will drive the digital transformation of healthcare in the following ways, to name just a few:

AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is most obviously used in digital healthcare services to automate record-keeping duties and eliminate human error. However, AI can also be utilized to create individualized treatment regimens for patients and perform predictive diagnostics. The extensive usage of AI healthcare chatbots is another way AI will revolutionize digital healthcare.

IoT

There are a lot of potential uses for IoT devices in the medical field. First off, vital biometric data gathered by health wearables will serve as the foundation for precise, real-time patient profiles in the future. Hospital settings will also soon be teeming with Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices, which will boost operational efficiency by providing a constant flow of real-time data and insights.

Robotics

Surgery will be revolutionized by the development of medical robots that are capable of precise and difficult tasks. Thanks to specialized robots, surgeons will be able to carry out complex treatments even from a distance.

3D Printing

The possibilities for designing personalized implants and prosthetic limbs are nearly endless thanks to 3D printing. This innovative design technology has a new application in the digital transformation of healthcare.

These technologies are just a handful of examples. Others are blockchain (verified electronic health records), cloud computing (remote healthcare services), and big data (assistants in developing patient profiles and offering treatment alternatives). Fresh and fascinating opportunities for the transformation of digital healthcare are coming to light as innovation keeps going strong.

Evolving Patient Expectations and Demographics

Providing medical care to patients where they are is the goal of healthcare. It’s also time for healthcare to go digital, as the majority of patients use the internet. It’s reasonable to assume that the more than 5.3 billion people who utilize the internet globally will eventually need to receive medical care.

The internet is already widely used by consumers of healthcare to schedule appointments or investigate medical facilities and physicians. Even after the pandemic subsided, there has been a steady increase in the need for telemedicine services. This trend started during the outbreak.

Before the epidemic, 21 million adults in the United States used telehealth services in 2019, according to Insider Intelligence data. By 2023, 64 million adult Americans were utilizing telehealth services! If you take into account all internet users in the United States (318 million), nearly one in five of them used telehealth in 2023.

The healthcare industry will see an increase in demand for digital transformation as younger cohorts, such as Millennials and Gen-Z, are more inclined to adopt digital healthcare solutions as they become older.

Updated Regulations and Incentives

It is becoming increasingly common for authorities to control the use of digital healthcare as more people use it and as more providers provide digital healthcare solutions. Numerous governments across the globe, including those in the United States, Europe, and Asia, are providing incentives to healthcare providers in an effort to quicken the shift to digital healthcare.

Benefits of Digital Transformation in Healthcare

Acknowledging the digital transformation of healthcare is a smart move for reasons other than only government funds and other incentives. Both patients and providers benefit from using digital healthcare services.

Physicians, hospitals, clinics, and all other kinds of healthcare providers gain from digital healthcare solutions in the following ways:

  • It streamlines processes by doing away with paperwork, improving data accessibility, and cutting down on the amount of time
  • needed for patient examinations. It also enables more efficient remote patient-doctor contact.
  • It establishes a safe database for electronic medical records and facilitates effective communication and data sharing amongst medical personnel.

The following are some of the ways that digital healthcare benefits patients:

  • They are able to obtain individualized medical care.
  • They have real-time tracking of critical health variables.
  • Their personal health records are easier for them to obtain.
  • Digital healthcare solutions facilitate convenient appointment scheduling.

Healthcare Digital Transformation: Challenges and Barriers

The healthcare sector still lags behind many others in embracing digital technologies and services, despite the obvious advantages of this shift.

Let’s look at the main obstacles to healthcare’s digital revolution.

1. Data Privacy and Security Concerns

One of the most sensitive types of data that is accessible is patient healthcare data. As a result, worries about cybersecurity and data privacy in relation to digital healthcare are reasonable.

Although a large number of administrative enterprise resource planning (ERP) programs on the market today can be used in healthcare settings, the majority do not adhere to the stringent security standards. Selecting the appropriate digital healthcare solutions that abide by rules and safeguard patient information is an important choice.

2. Healthcare Organizations’ Resistance to Change

One of the oldest occupations in human history is medicine, and many healthcare institutions have a long history dating back several decades, if not older. These kinds of institutions are inherently resistant to change, particularly the radical organizational change that digital transformation in healthcare seeks to usher in.

3. Interoperability Issues

Interoperability problems are a consequence of healthcare institutions’ reluctance to adapt, which presents a difficulty for digital healthcare solutions. Newer digital applications and legacy systems are not necessarily interoperable.

Furthermore, there are a lot of different platforms in the present digital healthcare ecosystem, and information sharing isn’t always a simple process.

4. Staff Shortages

IT and healthcare have always been two distinct fields with little crossover in their areas of expertise. That paradigm has entirely shifted with the advent of digital healthcare. With a few exceptions, the necessity for physicians and other healthcare professionals to update their abilities to incorporate familiarity with digital healthcare solutions is only becoming apparent at a slow pace.

How to Overcome Challenges to Digital Healthcare Transformation?

There are other obstacles besides the ones listed above that prevent the digital healthcare revolution from happening more quickly. In addition, there are issues with managing a dispersed workforce, obsolete payer models, and data silos within platforms. These obstacles must be overcome with dedication and hard work.

One of the best ways to ensure that a healthcare company experiences digital transformation is to appoint a chief technology officer. This person is able to look for digital health solutions that align with the company’s aims and objectives and advocate for the implementation of new technology.

To encourage digital transformation in the healthcare sector, it’s also critical to provide personnel with the necessary training, provide the infrastructure needed for patients to use digital healthcare solutions, and keep pace of new developments in health technology.

Key Technologies in Healthcare Digital Transformation

To adapt, the healthcare sector must seize new opportunities presented by technological innovation. As was previously indicated, new approaches of providing conventional healthcare services are promised by developing technology like robotics and 3D printing.

However, digital healthcare solutions offer completely new ways to healthcare that are absent from old methods, in addition to altering the way things used to be done. Let’s examine the most significant ones first.

Telehealth and Telemedicine Solutions

Telemedicine and telehealth have a wide range of uses and a large reach. Most excitingly, it is poised to fundamentally alter future doctor-patient relationships. Additionally, it will give patients in faraway locations virtual access to services that they might not have previously had.

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Health Information Exchange (HIE)

In order to diagnose and cure disorders, patient information is essential. Healthcare professionals now have an easier time locating the data they need to develop effective and optimal treatment plans thanks to digital record-keeping platforms like EHRs and HIEs. This advancement also makes it possible for patients to check up pertinent information whenever needed.

AI and Machine Learning (ML) Applications

Future healthcare practitioners who are not human might not be too far off! The capabilities of AI and ML technologies have greatly improved the convenience of diagnosis, surgery, and even predictive medicine. The use of AI and ML technologies in healthcare data has expanded its potential applications, ranging from assisting physicians with AI-assisted treatment plans to giving patients information through chatbots and patient portals.

Healthcare IoT

Healthcare services can always be provided by machines, but the landscape has completely transformed with the advent of internet-connected gadgets. Thanks to specialized healthcare wearables and medical gadgets with digital twins that assist optimize hospital operations, doctors now have access to an unprecedented amount of granular data.

In the upcoming years, healthcare will continue to gravitate toward digital solutions. The advantages and heightened productivity they offer are just too evident to overlook. The following trends will undoubtedly gain traction as the healthcare industry grows more receptive to digital products and services.

Continued Growth of Telehealth

In the upcoming years, healthcare will continue to undergo a digital transition. When more healthcare institutions establish the necessary infrastructure, a significant number of patients will begin utilizing telehealth solutions. Any healthcare business can effectively transition into the future by making investments in telemedicine.

Personalized Medicine and Genomics

Future patient treatment planning will heavily rely on automated, AI-enhanced analytics and comprehensive EHRs. Advances in gene sequencing, which enable patients to receive individualized medication recommendations based on their genetic profiles, are also being fueled by AI.

Blockchain in Healthcare

Private blockchains, though most commonly associated with cryptocurrencies, have significant applications in digital healthcare. Blockchain technology is a natural fit for the healthcare sector’s requirement for secure digital archives since it can be used to store encrypted data on a private network safely.

Patient-centric Care Models

Access to medical services is made more democratic via digital healthcare. As the healthcare sector undergoes ongoing digital transformation, a greater number of patients will have access to a variety of services that were previously unattainable. Patients will feel more in control of their own care thanks to smart patient portals, which will also make it easier for them to access their records and information.

The digital healthcare sector needs to be prepared for the constant emergence of new trends. In the upcoming years, one of the distinguishing characteristics of effective digital healthcare providers will be the capacity to adjust to changes and embrace innovative technologies.

Steps to Implement Digital Transformation

Without a well-defined plan, any healthcare institution thinking about becoming digital should not try to do so. Significant changes can only be effected by digital healthcare solutions in conjunction with a well-thought-out strategy.

If you’re thinking about embracing the transformation of healthcare to digital, follow the steps listed below.

1. Assess Current Systems and Needs

It’s crucial to evaluate your organization’s current tech stack before implementing any new healthcare technology. Consider the following: how do you and other stakeholders utilize the present applications and solutions? Why do you use them? In what areas do the solutions fall short?

2. Develop a Digital Strategy and Roadmap

It’s time to plan your future moves once you have a better understanding of your current circumstance. You should have a broad vision for your digital strategy and plan in addition to clearly trackable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with readily available measurements. You can progressively implement significant change inside your organization by segmenting your digital transformation for healthcare into manageable steps.

3. Select the Right Technology Partners and Solutions

It’s possible that the majority of healthcare companies lack an experienced IT officer who could assist in creating a plan for digital transformation. Selecting the ideal transformation partner is crucial if you want to assist your company and its patients get the most out of a range of digital healthcare options.

4. Pilot and Implement Digital Initiatives

Before making any digital solutions broadly available, test them out in pilot initiatives. Before deciding on a choice, determine the appropriate use cases and test out several platforms and solutions.

5. Monitor and Evaluate Progress

The transition to digital healthcare is a continuous process. The best strategy to guarantee outcomes is to keep a close eye on newly implemented digital healthcare applications and to routinely assess how well they’re doing at producing the intended effects.

All transformation strategies must to be flexible enough to change course quickly in the event that an earlier plan doesn’t work.

Summing Up

The majority of enterprises will require guidance in order to transition to digital healthcare delivery. Medical providers can benefit from Intellectsoft’s experience accelerating the adoption of digital healthcare services and technologies. Intellectsoft is a digital transformation consultant. With a wealth of experience in the healthcare sector, including the development of software for dentistry clinics, task and management systems for hospitals, and medical data systems, Intellectsoft aims to transform the way that patients and providers approach healthcare.

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