INTRODUCTION
Digitalisation is not about technology, but about applying culture, processes, operative models and technologies of the advanced internet-era to meet and respond to people’s raised expectations. It is not an entire replacement of one way of working with another; instead it provides new approaches to address problems both old and new.
Digitalisation is a basic but essential beginning towards driving transformation and innovation into every organisation. Organisations however need to avoid equating digital with technology because the consequences of taking a technology-centered approach to an uncertain and uncontrollable environment of digital public services might often be ruinous. A technology-centered definition of digital isn’t wrong however it is incomplete. Digital transformation isn’t all about technology, it is also about changing the way an organisation works in response to the changing environment around it. Tom Loosemore, co-founder of the UK’s Government Digital Service, speaks about how digital transformation means applying culture, processes, operative models and technologies of the advanced internet-era to meet and respond to people’s raised expectations”.
Any trust undergoing a digital transformation has to revisit the model of operation of the organisation – what needs to be delivered, who will be delivering it, and how will its form fit the particular function – in terms of how the world has changed since the operating model was first put to action. It then considers how technology and the use of data can underpin the new model of operation.
NEW DIGITAL ERA FOR THE SOCIETY
Healthcare digital transformation is a great breakthrough for the whole of medical industry. The implementation and channelisation of the right solutions will bring in tons of benefits, and effective and speedy cure of few diseases. When revolutionising an industry, the process of digitisation allows healthcare organisations and institutions to create effective and efficient clinical and administrative processes that ensure easier collaboration and cooperation with patients.
Digital transformation in healthcare is the constructive and productive use of technology to streamline efficient operations, boost and intensify patient experience, and make patient care more attainable, accessible and affordable. It implies that versatile technological tools and solutions are used to enhance patient experience, service delivery, create new business models, and make communication more efficient. It’s not only limited to what technology is used but also to how and for what purpose it can be executed and accomplished to help the healthcare field grow and advance.
Technological advancements improve patients’ experience and increase interoperability. With online appointments, electronic medical records, and comprehensive platforms for data interchange, digital transformation is rapidly impacting the healthcare industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic sudden outbreak has adversely affected every industry, business, and organisation. But the magnitude of the crisis has disturbed the healthcare industry the most as this is a human tragedy, affecting their health and lives. Front line healthcare workers have been pushed to battle a virus not known before, draining all possibilities and resources of the medical industry.
COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation across health and care and the NHS response to it has been commendable. Trusts have delivered new services in no time, be it an increase in virtual outpatient appointments or remote observation and monitoring of ICU patients, which would have otherwise taken months or even years.
“There is no going back from digitalisation”, said NHS leaders. Trusts wish to rise on the progress that they created throughout the primary part of rapid digitisation and guarantee that digital remains central to the ongoing restoration and recovery of services. However, harnessing the momentum of crisis response for long term process improvement will be the central challenge faced by every board over the coming decade. Digital transformation in healthcare isn’t solely about technologies but, to be more precise, it’s rather about how to use the available tools, software, technologies, etc. and get the most out of it for the sake of people’s health. The healthcare industry influenced by digital transformation puts patients at the center and puts all efforts into the improvement of treatment quality, better analysis, and medicine production to cure a particular disease. This transformation has a lot of benefits for all the parties involved, as technologies allow us to work more effectively and more efficiently. Medical centers and huge healthcare enterprises have to rethink and build their business strategies that come with transformation in a way to welcome more opportunities
Digital health applications are used by healthcare workers, patients, insurance companies, and third parties who are all not essentially digitally-enabled and need support in using these technologies. IGspectrum is the solution for healthcare organisations as it provides secure, cloud hosted applications focussing on providing advanced clinical support and patient care to meet all specified requirements.
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BENEFITS OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN HEALTHCARE
- Seamless hospital and Patient Data Management
Hospitals work with enormous amount of data every single day. They have to provide, store and gather medical reports, records, invoices and other data of patients on an everyday basis. However, doing this manually and with accuracy would require huge effort and a lot of time.
With digitisation hospitals, medical and all of the above processes become seamless, quick and efficient. It means there’s improvement in the whole workflow. Efficient and accurate data management and delivery of better patient care is the benefit every heathcare organisation reaps as data is stored centrally, there’s seamless workflow and effortless storage and retrieval of data.
- Improved Services for Patients
With digitalisation comes seamless doctor-patient coordination and communication. The phenomenon is patient centered where execution and implementation of different technologies makes way for personalised treatments and individual approaches. At its core, digital transformation in the healthcare industry is all about how outstanding patient care can be delivered amidst rising unprecedented medical times.
- Upscale’s analysis and ensures effective organisation
The use of technologies in the medical industry gives better opportunities to analyse data effectively and much quicker than people can do. Also, these technologies minimise mistakes, and improve staff productivity.
- Expedite Response to Patient Queries
Cloud computing and other digital tools, have made data digitalisation easier and digitalisation allows organisations to connect across various social channels available. This helps both patients to posts heir queries and for doctors to respond to various patient queries. This allows patients to get all the needed information from the comfort of their homes and ensures that patients receive immediate and personalised attention.
- Better Environment for Doctors
Digitalisation allows quick access to medical records for both patients and as well as the doctors. It gives doctors a chance to make decisions effectively and provide more profound treatment. It allows for better communication and could provide important information for various researches. With increased profound research doctors can make results in better treatment and leads us to overall achievement of efficiency and accuracy.
DIGITAL HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS THAT ENHANCE INDUSTRY
Digital healthcare is rather a new field, however due to the already existing experience of some developed countries, it’s now that we can take advantage of the following solutions:
- make online doctor appointments;
- create electronic medical records;
- create unified platforms for data exchange;
- use chatbots to provide necessary information online (while a patient is checking the website);
- use electronic medical cards that contain all patients’ medical records and prescribed medications, etc.
There are numerous ways where these software solutions can be used in healthcare in order to enhance medical industry.
DIGITAL HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY
Today digital healthcare technology promotes various changes in society and specially in the healthcare field. These are the most popular technologies that are used to enhance the medical facilities and the industry in general:
- Artificial Intelligence: It has great potential for data analysis thus providing better diagnosis;
- Augmented Reality : It helps with the enhancement of efficiency and cost optimisation of surgeries;
- Cloud Computing: It enables storage and sharing of data across platforms;
- Blockchain technology: It provides a chance for other doctors to see a patient’s medical history and continue the treatment;
- IoT: These are wearable devices and supporting apps which collect real-time data that helps doctors to have the full image of the patient’s state and these data could also be studied and as a result provide useful insights for numerous researches.
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY: WHAT’S NEXT?
Digital transformation is impacting and influencing consumer experience and convenience across industries. However, digital transformation in healthcare still needs to pace up as it is the primary block of a patient-centric approach to healthcare. COVID-19 highlighted the various difficulties and challenges of the healthcare industry in terms of quality, access, and efficiency of the existing healthcare system, which further underlines the low level of digital maturity and preparedness.
Healthcare transformation majorly impacts how health care providers manage overall patient health. It aims to provide agile optimisation of operational processes, compliance, and improvement in patient experience while reducing costs. Today, because of these benefits and arising necessities in the pandemic, the long-overdue transformation of the healthcare industry has finally gained momentum.
The eHealthcare field is only in its first stage into achieving digital transformation. Even though some countries outdo others, we cannot call this phenomenon a global one. However, it’s because of the available digital healthcare technology that is constantly enhancing and upgrading, we might see a new image of healthcare in the upcoming years, more efficient and almost flawless.
Companies and medical facilities should have to think of the right strategy to use available software solutions to make health in this world a better place.