The following is a guest article by Dave Bennett, CEO at pCare
Digital transformation has become a popular buzzword, but it’s more complicated than just that. It’s the process of implementing emerging digital technologies to modify a company’s essential operations, processes, and services to ease the staff workload and enable the organization to withstand future challenges. Both aspects have become crucial since the beginning of the pandemic. Digital transformation is about more than just technology; it provides new ways to deliver value.
In today’s rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, what was once the golden standard of optimizing healthcare performance has evolved from the Triple Aim (enhancing the patient experience, improving population health, and lowering costs) into the Quadruple Aim, which factors in the clinician’s well-being. With the promise to re-engineer processes that don’t add value for patients and automate tasks that are increasingly difficult and time-consuming for clinicians, digital transformations allow staff to focus more time on patient care. Patients today want more customized experiences that meet their individual needs and provide better outcomes; digital transformations meet this demand. It’s about using technology to optimize and support each aspect of the patient and clinician experience to achieve even better outcomes.
Accelerated during the pandemic, more healthcare facilities are implementing emerging technologies to meet patient and staff needs and create the digital hospital of the future. This technology assists in streamlining and improving care. With staff shortages and resource constraints still abounding, digital transformation can benefit the patient, staff, and facility in various ways.
Providing Value to Patients
The hospital of the future, made possible with digital transformation, incorporates integrations with interactive systems to encourage the patient to manage non-clinical aspects of their admission with ease. This grants access to tasks such as environmental room controls and food ordering. For example, following the implementation of an interactive patient system, the patient can manage the room’s temperature, reduce the lighting, order a meal, and place a service request without needing facetime with a nurse. This ability gives the patient a crucial sense of independence and allows staff to remain focused on care. Patients who are actively engaged in their care journeys see more improvement than passive participants.
When done correctly, digital transformation makes care delivery more accessible and understandable for all patients. Data-driven solutions that present an engagement roadmap for patients during admission will enhance the experience while preparing the patient and family for a smooth care transition. Providers will be able to offer more personalized care to patients and provide more efficient and seamless communication. When patients gain access to their health data, they’re empowered to make more informed decisions about the kind of care they would like to receive during and after hospital admission. Through open communication, patients can have better experiences and health outcomes.
Experience the Future Today
Digital transformation is accelerating healthcare with a focus on patient engagement and staff satisfaction, creating the value healthcare systems need and the experience patients expect based on their consumer experiences in other industries. Leveraging chatbots on the front end to assist with self-scheduling appointments, using advanced analytics to prescribe and document education, and implementing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to improve claims processing and payment on the back end, patients and providers are already experiencing the value of digital transformation.
Advanced digital systems offer universal access through a host of devices and technology to further connect the entire facility. From infusion centers to emergency departments and even beyond the walls of the facility, technology is working to keep patients and providers seamlessly connected. These platforms are part of the hospital of the future, where clinicians reduce involvement in non-clinical tasks and redistribute their time to truly focus on patient care. This approach is a win-win for patients, healthcare professionals, and facility administrators.
Inside the hospital, increasingly seen are digital whiteboards in patient rooms and digital door signs integrated with the existing HIT to conveniently convey critical information to staff and families, such as daily schedules, precautions, patient repositioning, and the current care team. This transparency of information builds trust among the patient, the medical staff providing care, and the family members, improving care collaboration and experiences for all stakeholders. Automatic updates from integrated hospital systems replace manual staff entries, ensuring the information is current while reducing staff time spent performing repetitive tasks.
As information is power, digital transformation initiatives leverage data in the medical record to provide personalized and timely education materials along with learning verification feedback loops which help patients and providers work together at a higher level, increasing the ability to fully reach the Quadruple Aim. By efficiently utilizing technology, patient engagement and clinician satisfaction are significantly increased.
The New Era of Healthcare
Digital transformation in healthcare is designed to increase staff efficiency and benefit operations while improving patient outcomes and experience. With new ways of delivering value, a successful digital transformation will allow patients, families, and providers to become more connected, regardless of location or stage of the care journey.
As digital transformation progresses, the patient experience and staff well-being will continue to drive the Hospital of the Future. Healthcare facilities should select a partner with a secure patient engagement system that integrates fully with their existing HIT and helps healthcare teams seamlessly collaborate with patients and families across the care continuum. A trusted end-to-end service provider will be equipped in delivering value to customers and patients alike in a quickly evolving ecosystem.
Entering this new era of healthcare, digital transformation combines cutting-edge technology with data analytics to deliver a personalized experience for each patient, and better care tools for providers.
About Dave Bennett
Dave Bennett is the CEO of pCare. His visionary approach to patient engagement, digital and mobile technologies, and IT integration ensure continuous innovation of the #1-KLAS ranked pCare platform and a company culture dedicated to delighting customers. Prior to joining pCare, Dave served in a variety of executive roles at ViiMed, GetWellNetwork and StayWell. Dave holds a CISM certificate from ISACA and is an active member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).
