Building the hospital of the future
June 14, 2021 | Digital Transformation, digital health, digital tools
Senior Consultant Leah Carlisle explores the growing trend of virtual hospitals and what it takes to develop a holistic digital ecosystem centered on the ultimate patient experience.
Every patient, every doctor or nurse, every hospital worker is a human being influenced by their experiences outside of healthcare. In the consumer world, we have all come to expect speed and interconnectedness, and value personalized products and services tailored to our lifestyles and needs. These expectations carry over into healthcare, where patients and healthcare professionals leverage a wide array of channels to meet their needs and feel frustrated when their expectations are not smoothly met.
The digitalization of healthcare is one factor driving this change in behavior, and while social distancing has pushed the use of healthcare tech into overdrive, this trend was emerging before the COVID‑19 pandemic. For example, in 2019, 76% of US consumers searched online to learn about their health and care, and nearly half digitally tracked a health metric, such as weight or blood sugar levels.1
Sitting at the center of the convergence between digital innovation, big data, and shifting stakeholder demands is the emerging trend of hospitals without walls, in which hospitals represent a digitally connected community rather than a circumscribed physical space.
During the past year, many hospitals and health systems have formed digital centers of excellence and innovation teams designed to meet patients and customers where they are, improving both their experiences and their outcomes.
As Mark Wehde, Chair, Mayo Clinic Division of Engineering, explains: “Healthcare is shifting from a traditional hospital‑centric care model to a more virtual distributed care model that heavily leverages the latest technologies around artificial intelligence, deep learning, data analytics, genomics, home‑based healthcare, robotics, and 3D printing of tissues and implants.”2
One catalyst for this has been the COVID‑19 pandemic, which has pushed providers to find ways to deliver high‑quality care remotely, as quickly as possible, to minimize the chance of infection. Digital innovation projects, which may have been slower to gain traction before, have now been prioritized, prompting enhancements in technology and infrastructure to keep up with the evolving and increasing demands.
“Almost overnight, we’ve gone from face‑to‑face consultations to the vast majority being what we’d call digital‑first— by phone, text, video call, or online. That has fundamentally changed the way that we deliver care,” says Saira Ghafur, a respiratory physician and the lead for digital health policy at Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation.3 Today digital innovation is not only changing the way we communicate, it is changing the essence of how care is delivered.
4 fundamental healthcare technologies are driving the trend of hospitals without walls—each of which was in use in some form before the pandemic, but often in isolation without the digital ecosystem necessary for joined‑up seamless care.
This content was provided by Avalere Health
Company Details
Latest Content from Avalere Health
Hepatitis (C)an’t wait: taking a de-centralized approach to cure the epidemic
Hepatitis C is a curable disease, so why are so many countries off track to achieve the World Health Organization elimination target? This World Hepatitis Day, we compare several countries’...
The key to psoriasis innovation? Dispelling the shadow of the JAK inhibitor
Powerful therapies that can improve skin clarity dominate the psoriasis landscape, so why are most patients stuck in a cycle of ineffective topicals? Fishawack Health explores the market and reveals how life...
Healthcare tech: the driving force behind value-based care?
In 2020, healthcare technology investment went into overdrive. We speak to Sunny Kumar, Partner at GSR Ventures, to find out how COVID‑19 has transformed the industry and whether healthcare technology...
Numbers, navigation, and narratives: digital storytelling in medical communications
Science and storytelling aren’t often seen as compatible. One is based on cold, hard facts, while the other is synonymous with improvisation and theater. However, when done well, storytelling can...
Building the hospital of the future
Senior Consultant Leah Carlisle explores the growing trend of virtual hospitals and what it takes to develop a holistic digital ecosystem centered on the ultimate patient experience.
Welcoming analytics-driven digital marketing agency closerlook to the Fishawack Health pack
Fishawack Health enhances its omnichannel capabilities with the acquisition of closerlook, a data analytics and digital native healthcare agency specializing in intelligent omnichannel marketing solutions.
The rise of the healthcare social media influencer
The consumer industry has long been leveraging the power of social media influencers with enormous success. But can the highly regulated healthcare industry achieve the same results? Daniel Brackins explores...
Vaccine hesitancy eBook
In this e-book, we answer the difficult questions around vaccine hesitancy. Our consultants and commercial experts explore the behavioural science and reveal strategies for improving uptake.
Deep 6 AI: the smart software breathing new life into clinical trials
Fishawack Health interviews Wout Brusselaers, the Deep 6 AI CEO using artificial intelligence to solve one of the greatest barriers stagnating healthcare innovation—clinical trial recruitment and retention.
Are you ready for the digital health revolution?
In this edition of Delta magazine, we explore how rapid digitalization has transformed the care pathway and reveal how life science companies can succeed in the digital age.