The following is a guest article by Michael Norring, President and CEO at GCSIT.
Hospitals are predicted to have lost $53 billion in 2021. Finding ways to recoup this loss and meet the surge of patient needs starts with IT. Technology has been disrupting industries for more than a decade, and it’s time for the healthcare industry to catch up.
With an impending nursing and physician shortage and COVID-19 pushing hospitals to never before seen levels of care, digital transformation is no longer an option, it’s a necessity. Yet in 2021, only 60% of healthcare leaders believe their organization to be halfway through their digitization journey.
Here are three ways that the IT function can lead the healthcare sector to a successful digital transformation:
- Modernize infrastructure. It’s no secret that legacy systems are typically built by patchwork—fixes are made to existing systems, without much thought to speed and transparency. In order to truly modernize the healthcare industry, it must be built on a strong backbone devoted to flexibility and efficiency. Moving to the cloud and embracing SaaS products is the only way to move into the 21st The big winner with these implementations is the patient. In the same survey mentioned above, leaders reported that achieving better patient experiences is their top desired outcome of a digital transformation. Technology has been focused on this too, with the development of chat bots and SMS appointment setting, modernized IT solutions are well on their way to transforming the entire treatment process.
- Embrace AI. A recent study by IBM proved that their AI technology accurately detected breast cancer in 87% of the cases analyzed. The biggest obstacle can often be getting doctors to trust the AI solutions, but helping workers understand that this technology is here to complement their experience and not replace it, can help. Technology is not here to replace personalized medicine but to help by combining experience with data. Analyzing data and automating next steps for caregivers helps to alleviate the pressure on an overtaxed staff by making decisions based on both their experience and the breadth of data from others.
- Stay agile. From a technological perspective, agile framework is a series of computational processes that allows instant responsiveness to changes. This model uses organizations’ resources more effectively, ensuring all tools are functioning in tandem to achieve optimum productivity. Agility is the backbone to any digital transformation’s success. The healthcare industry has had to be agile over the past 24 months, facing challenges that most would’ve never predicted. Building this agile mindset into the strategy moving forward is key. Innovation doesn’t happen in a silo and implementing a modernized, agile framework is the way to meet the moment.
Working to replace legacy systems and standardized operating procedures, hospitals are moving to capitalize on the rise of technology and the ways it can change the industry. Experts predict that AI will bring $150 billion in savings for the US healthcare economy by 2026. The big question is how fast teams are going to implement changes. As leaders in the next frontier, IT needs to work to modernize systems and quell unnecessary fears about what comes next.
About Michael Norring
Michael Norring is the CEO of GCSIT. As the CEO, Michael plays an integral role in building the GCSIT brand and reimagining the future of IT partners to help bring smarter, more innovative, affordable technology solutions to consumers faster. His areas of expertise at GCSIT include building Agile Infrastructure, the Cloud, DevOps, Enterprise Applications, Development and more. Michael is a senior business executive and entrepreneur with a proven track record as a leader, innovator, strategic thinker, change agent, and market visionary. With more than 20 years of experience in the industry, he has extensive experience creating technology partners focused on the Cloud, DevOps, SaaS, Applications, Consulting and the Managed Services market. He has a background in defining company and product/services’ vision and strategy, customer engagement and alignment, operational controls, product management and development, new product definition and market launch, realignment of existing product, company turnaround, sales, and business development.
