Navigating the Future: A 5-Step Approach to Revolutionize the Healthcare Industry

With the ever-evolving digital transformation in the healthcare sector, there is an urgent need to drive positive change and address complex challenges to embrace innovation strategically.

Accordingly, hospitals can advance their clinical capabilities, streamline processes, improve patient outcomes, and redefine healthcare digital transformation services delivery.

Here is the five-step process for fostering innovation in the healthcare industry. By following these steps, medical institutions can seamlessly address the intricacies of healthcare innovation and pave the way for transformative advancements.

1. Begin with the Foundation

Look into what you already have, which includes the existing legacy systems, real-time location systems, patient engagement software, EHR, telemetry, etc. Once you have the information, figure out what works well for you and what could be improved.

2. Conduct Needs Assessments

Once you have all the information, engage the design team in prioritizing each department’s wish lists while considering the allocated budget. Next, consider the essential metrics such as HCAHPS scores, ROI, and patient and staff safety satisfaction. Lastly, devise strategies to leverage technologies for achieving those key performance indicators.

3. Build the Process and Technology Roadmap

Now, it is time to work on the design of the process and tech mapping to determine which aspects can be solved and which should be integrated into technology. Then, move forward with an integrated delivery method, where you clarify the important questions like who would own the project and who would take responsibility for the integration.

4. Execution and Delivery

For the successful execution and delivery of the process, get access to reliable healthcare software development services. The company you partner with must possess comprehensive knowledge of complex aspects, track project progress, strive towards achieving a shared vision, and ensure key performance indicators are fulfilled. Also, your chosen agency should carry the core competency in resolving current and foreseeable challenges.

5. Provision for Ongoing Support

The final step is establishing a provision to back ongoing support for the smooth digitalization of healthcare. Your digital transformation healthcare provider should provide you with the essential knowledge and expertise to overcome any roadblocks that may come during the digitalization journey.

Now that we have understood the steps that help digitize the healthcare industry, it’s time to dive into some prominent use cases and examples of digital transformation in healthcare.

Real-World Examples and Use Cases of Digital Healthcare Solutions

The main goal of healthcare digital transformation trends is to implement innovative solutions across the verticals that can optimize various operational processes and compliance while managing patient health and reducing costs. To better understand how digital transformation drives efficiency within the sector, let’s discover some remarkable use cases and real-world examples of digital solutions in healthcare.

Telemedicine and Virtual Visits

One significant impact of digital transformation in healthcare can be noticed in the form of a growing number of virtual doctor visits. In 2020, as the COVID‑19 pandemic brutally disrupted in-person care, everyone’s attention shifted to telemedicine. Accordingly, the number of teleconsultations skyrocketed, enabling patients to schedule medical appointments and consult doctors from their homes via video, audio, and messages.

For instance, Zocdoc is a popular healthcare app that allows patients to find a doctor urgently, schedule online video visits at their convenience, and keep track of their annual checkups.

With the continuous growth in telemedicine, patients living in suburbs or far-flung areas can get timely care without visiting a hospital. This is a more time- and cost-efficient approach than in-person hospital visits.

Patient Portals

It is another major use case of digital healthcare solutions, allowing patients to review their health records, check prescriptions, schedule appointments with doctors, and more. As per a survey, 82% of healthcare providers consider patient portals as one of their primary technologies for engaging patients.

This trend promotes quicker and more convenient access to electronic health records and significantly reduces the burden on the medical staff. Patients can also share the data with multiple providers, eliminating the need to call and manually transfer records.

A great example of patient portal technology use is the FollowMyHealth system. It enables patients to schedule appointments with specialists, check their prescriptions and health records, and share their health data easily.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, people have become more conscious of their health. They always look for effective yet convenient ways to track their health metrics. It is why there has been a massive increase in the sales of wearable medical devices. Integrating the devices with innovative tech solutions enables users to get accurate real-time health data and metrics. Some of the common types of health wearables include heart rate trackers, oximeters, and fitness trackers.

For instance, Apple Watch is one of the most popular wearables introduced in the healthcare market. It can track the heart rate, send reminders about drinking water or washing hands, and record body temperature, weight, and periods. Healthcare professionals can further use this data for diagnosis, prescriptions, and more. So, in short, wearables are transforming the healthcare industry and making it more proficient.

Health Wearables

While patient portals help retrieve patient data, many hospitals also work on aggregating back-end data. Currently, clinics and hospitals gather data from various sources, such as electronic health records, lab results, insurance claims, medical devices, imaging, and more. Due to the abundance of these sources, there is a potential risk of overlooking important patient medical history information.

Data aggregation enables medical professionals to make faster and more informed patient-care decisions without worrying about missing key information. So basically, this digital healthcare innovation enhances patient care while reducing costs.

For instance, Mayo Clinic utilizes the data aggregation method in partnership with Google by implementing cloud solutions. They use the cloud to host data storage and analytics all in one place.

Disease History Analysis

Nowadays, many tools help analyze a patient’s medical history to give doctors recommendations about treatment outcomes. The company, BostonGene, uses an example of such a solution that helps conduct a profound analysis of a patient’s previous conditions and offers a personalized treatment plan that would potentially deem the best results.