Jenifer Jones

Research Director

Healthcare

Info-Tech Research Group

Analyst Perspective

Healthcare organizations are facing tremendous strain as they provide care for an aging demographic and respond to the pandemic. Patients are expecting more technology-enabled care options. New entrants into the healthcare marketplace such as Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple are poised to transform healthcare delivery. Health IT leaders must know which innovations and trends will influence providers and administrators. This trends report is focused on how healthcare service can be improved with broader technology adoption to transform and become more automated, connected, and flexible.

Info-Tech’s approach focuses on an analyst’s investigation of strategic foresight, a methodology that helps the IT department and the business process what is happening in the organization’s external environment in a way that guides ideation and opportunity identification. As a methodology, strategic foresight flows from the identification of signals to clustering the signals together to form trends and uncover what is driving the trends to determine which strategic initiatives are most likely to lead to success at the industry level.

• Healthcare organizations are overwhelmed after three years of responding to the unprecedented challenges and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Health IT leaders must learn about new trends and technologies to help providers provide excellent patient care.
• Transforming existing clinical workflows requires alignment between healthcare administrators and health IT leaders.

• Healthcare administrators often make the mistake of dismissing the role of IT when pursuing transformational changes.
• Health IT leaders must respond to unprecedented demands with reliable and secure service delivery.
• Identifying and considering viable technology trends is often a de-prioritized task for Health IT leaders, but it must remain a priority so they can continue to innovate.

• Guide healthcare organizations through options for digitally transforming service delivery.
• Help healthcare organizations identify and prioritize viable trends that can transform patient care and improve healthcare service delivery.
• Highlight the potential impact of health IT trends for healthcare business leaders.
• Provide a scan of feasible IT trends that will be important to continue to transform patient care.

INNOVATIONS IN PROVIDING INCLUSIVE PATIENT CARE

Progressive models of patient care are focused on prevention, a transition from standardized clinical models to personalized medicine.

Changing payment models. The focus is shifting focus from fee-for-service to value-based care that is centered on patient outcomes rather than transactional visits.

EXPECTATION OF PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS

Patients want a responsive culture. Many healthcare organizations are struggling to provide patients with a reliable digital experience that meets the expectations of the digital age.

Patients want to own their data. Healthcare organizations are struggling to provide patients with accurate information about their treatment, care, and costs.

TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE WORKING CONDITIONS

Exploit technology gains obtained during the pandemic to redefine care provision.

Analyze capacity and demand to match needs. During the pandemic clinical and non-clinical staff developed and refined virtual care delivery. Refine expectations related to the use of AI to improve real-time care.

• In-person care provided at an acute care hospital, skilled nursing facility, or primary care office.
• Inflexible and a mix of digital and paper-based referral processes.
• Expensive and complex flow of data/interfaces through EHR, EMR, and digital charting systems.
• Interoperability is limited in scope within regional health authorities, hospital networks, and primary care offices.
• Limited expansion of virtual care offerings.

• Active awareness of virtual care options and impactful initiatives such as contactless visits with providers and personalized care.
• Intense stress on healthcare workforce: 55% of frontline healthcare workers report burnout, with the highest rate of 69% among the youngest staff.
• Healthcare organizations are fighting to support their employees and retain clinical talent (“Future of Health,” Deloitte, 2022).
• A proactive approach for high-value implementations that support revenue diversification.

• Patient care that is omnichannel and hyper-personalized.
• Technology-enabled healthcare that is focused on the patient rather than the system.
• Technology solutions that are configurable and adaptable based on previous patient care encounters, convenience, and patient experience preferences.

• Attracting and retaining staff is a pervasive challenge for healthcare organizations. Identifying and using the right amount of automation can help them provide better patient care while retaining qualified staff.
• Leverage automation and virtual care to create effective care environments and differentiate the patient experience from that of competing healthcare organizations.
• Focus automation on the patient experience, creating value and building positive outcomes for patients.

• Expand connected care by integrating valuable information from EHRs onto mobile devices such as tablets, watches, and cellphones.
  
• Patients want more freedom to decide where to receive care. Patients who are supported by virtual care can be served using different modes of care such as telehealth, teleconsultation, telemedicine, etc.
• Experiment with new forms of virtual care that can help patients connect with providers without having to go to an acute care center. Develop workflows that support high-quality home care.

• Providers are seeking adaptable patient care options enabled by reliable medical devices.
• Care plans are enabled by personal devices that are secure and intuitive and support hyper-personalized care plans.
• Integrate consumer apps that remind patients to take medication, support lifestyle modification, and provide a connection to patient communities.

ADVANCED DATA ANALYTICS

The development of an advanced data analytics platform to support data-driven patient care is the foundational step necessary to support core transformation initiatives.

CYBERSECURITY

A robust cybersecurity program supporting internet of medical things (IoMT) implementations is critical to ensure organizational information and assets are protected against the onslaught
of various forms of attack.

DIGITAL FRONTLINES

Deployment of mobile devices and applications to assist providers with near-real-time data to support their daily operational tasks is essential to realize the benefits of the digital transformation of patient care.

HYBRID CLOUD INTEGRATION

A hybrid integration framework to support various integration patterns such as on-premises to on-premises, on-premises to cloud, and cloud to cloud is key to enabling health IT capabilities.

RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE

Manage technical debt through developing practices that support a resilient technology infrastructure. Implement an infrastructure that will enable your organization to adopt new technologies.

PROACTIVE CULTURE

Supporting a significant digital transformation requires an adaptive, committed, and skilled team. IT leaders must have the confidence that their team will support major technology implementations.

INTERNET OF MEDICAL THINGS

Patient engagement increased by IoMT devices

The integration of mobile into patient care toward an omnichannel approach opens the door for an integrated and holistic patient experience. Expansion of core networks to 5G and 6G connectivity will support healthcare organizations in deploying more IoMT.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Continued health system consolidation

Larger healthcare organizations that have managed to diversify patient offerings and have thrived during the pandemic are now expanding and looking to acquire smaller healthcare providers and expand service delivery.

HIGH-QUALITY HOME CARE

Personalized medicine appealing to demographic changes

Expanding virtual care into the realm of greater home care enabled by technology is estimated to reduce care costs by 30%. Clinical outcomes are improved and facilitate shorter average stays in acute care settings.

HEALTHCARE OF THE FUTURE

TRENDS REPORT

BUSINESS CONTEXT & IT STRATEGY

IT Strategy

Digital Strategy

Leverage this trends report for priorities that drive measurable top-line organizational outcomes and the unlocking of direct value.

The future will bring more trends and technologies, making it pivotal that your healthcare organization continue to establish itself as the disrupter and not the disrupted. You must establish a structured approach to innovation management that considers external trends as well as internal processes. Info-Tech’s Define Your Digital Business Strategy and Build a Business-Aligned IT Strategy blueprints give you the tools you need to effectively process signals in your environment, build an understanding of relevant trends, and turn this understanding into action.