The healthcare sector faces many challenges like increasing demand, rising costs, and the need for more customer focus. A new approach with a greater focus on prevention rather than cure is necessary. Digital transformation supports this shift, but not all possibilities are exploiting now because organizations do not always know where to start. Healthcare can learn a lot from the retail sector. You can learn a lot about telehealth and online therapy here
Other sectors are further into digital transformation
Healthcare institutions still see IT too much as a cost item and too little as an enabler of the digital transformation process. Digital support is much more advanced in other sectors. Healthcare can take an example from the accessibility and willingness to assist customer service of a supermarket. You can app, chat with them, and you name it. But doctor’s practices, for example, can often only get a call and then you are put on hold. You cannot make video calls with them, and they cannot reach you via social media. Or take a WMO counter. The legal turnaround time from application for the provision of medical aid is no less than two months.
Technology does not make care harder
Ordinary things are a lot less common when you live with a disability. Something as simple as picking up a pen from the floor, making a bed, or doing the laundry is more complicated than you think. But technology can do something about this. It is an ongoing search for the Philosopher’s Stone, which turns metal into gold and cures diseases. Within Academy Het Dorp, for example, we are working with Philips and healthcare organization Siza on a smartwatch that will sound the alarm if the wearer threatens to fall. Experience experts test whether the watch works in practice. The invention has everything to contribute to falling prevention. It often imagines that technology makes care harder or more impersonal. But that is not necessary at all.
We are also researching smart incontinence material. Thanks to a sensor, this ensures fewer leaks. That means replacing clothes and bedding less often is good for both users and caregivers. Also, this will probably produce a more agreeable cost-benefit picture, although it remains to be seen whether this is the case.
Gadgets must be part of a vision
Gadgets are fun, but technology is still far too isolated in his view. Innovations must be part of a larger whole. We sometimes ask whether we can help with the development of a robot. A robot can, of course, picks up a pen. And it is cool when someone’s breathing machine is connected to the internet because then the device can also warn you that it is going to break. But digital transformation is about much more than just cool.
You need a total vision. In my opinion, it is not compatible if you have nice things but an urgent question from a wheelchair user about his aid is lost. For example, he will not receive an answer because you are unreachable, or because your organization is too bureaucratic.
A digital transformation process starts with mapping out the current situation, current challenges and thus developing a vision. This is followed by determining the change assignment and drawing up a route. Only at the end does the concrete approach follow and possibly the aforementioned robot comes into the picture. I like to draw the comparison with cooking: it works better with the good stuff. But just an oven is not enough. You may even need a new kitchen. This includes a design based on your vision, on your wishes, with easy-to-use items.
See: https://updatefly.com/telemedicine/
Digitization is not the only solution
Digitization is not necessarily the holy grail, the only solution that reduces the need for people. Innovation helps you to have a meaningful impact on people’s lives. Everyone has an ordinary life with the care that is needed, that is what it is all about. Innovation improves the overall picture of the client. So that the quality of his or her life improves. We can advise innovators in healthcare, guide the process and help deploy the best technology. Technology where the client, care providers, and loved ones add value to brands. That is our profession. Think back to that kitchen with only an oven. More is needed for a complete meal. More is needed to effectively tackle healthcare challenges: a vision. That is what healthcare can learn from the retail sector. Use your technology, as part of a larger whole, the possibilities are endless. In this way, you take care to a higher level and help clients even better.
0 Comments