Strategic approach to digital transformation: 3 lessons learned

Joshua Titus, a founder of a digital health platform to engage patients, is passionate about creating mobile technology that informs and delights users. In the column at Chief Healthcare Executive, he describes three main lesson learnt in applying a strategic approach to digital transformation in healthcare. Joshua writes:

‘Hospitals and health systems can develop digital and mobile strategies that meet their unique needs. Now that the immediate crush of COVID-19 has passed and the dash to implement and roll-out digital offerings has eased, healthcare leaders are beginning to do some soul-searching around their digital strategy. Top of mind: “What are the digital capabilities that are most important to us—and how can we refine these capabilities for better patient experiences?’

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Essential to Integrate Empathy in Digital Health, Expert Says

Michael Oleksiw is a US based leader in technology development and product data on a global scale for over 20 years solving specific business and societal problems through innovation. In his column at Pharmacy Times, he writes: “As we contemplate the future and what is required to optimize digital technology to advance human health, we must focus on the person at the center to inform our decision-making—the patient. Technological innovation is designed to make processes more convenient, efficient, scalable, faster, and smarter, replacing functions that have historically been performed by humans. Yet, technology is no panacea. Health care is inherently human, demanding a level of social responsibility that is at the core of what it means to being human. For this reason, the answer to digital optimization lies in keeping digitization human through a combination of the 2. In this model, a human-digital hybrid includes the integration of empathy into technological systems in health care, which is needed to achieve an optimally satisfying user experience.” Full text here

Spain funds development of Digital Health Strategy

The Spanish Council of Ministers has approved an allocation of 230 million euros to develop the Digital Health Strategy as one of the proposals of the current Government aims to promote the digital transformation of health services . This amount will be distributed between 2022 and 2023 among the autonomous communities applying three criteria: 10% will be a fixed amount for each of the territories; 84% based on population criteria; and the remaining 6% will go to those regions that are committed to leading projects collaboratively. “This is a good document that describes policies and strategies that could effectively help the correct development of digitization in Spain. However, a significant investment of resources and adequate management of change is needed to see this transformation come true”, says Ismael Said Criado, coordinator the working subgroup on adoption of new technologies at the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), “we hope for in the future is the development of true clinical decision support tools based on AI, which take advantage of the data generated by clinical activity to simplify the work of the health professional”.

New Digital Health Training Strategy Launched in Australia

The Australian Digital Health Agency today announced a strategy for better training Australia’s health workforce in digital skills. The National Digital Health Capability Action Plan was developed together the Australasian Institute of Digital Health. To maximize the benefits of digital health for more patients in more settings, ADHA CEO Amanda Cattermole says concerted action is needed across the health sector. “Workforce strategy development and planning requires consultation, including with professional colleges, universities and educators and employers in the public and private sectors.Coordination of effort is also vital, and the AIDH, with its strong existing knowledge, relationships and independence in this area, is well positioned to take on this role.” According to the action plan, better digital skills will improve diagnosis, treatment and management of health conditions, reduce clinical risks, improve workflows, patient flows, and information sharing, facilitate out-of-hospital care, and make healthcare more transparent and efficient. There are three key components of the initiative: national guidelines for digital skills in the sector; digital education; and regulation that requires digital health to be included in regulated health education. Parallel deliveries will take place. Education and regulation will be developed over a three-year period following the completion of the skills framework. The document notes that fragmentation of healthcare systems is a key barrier to developing digital skills.

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Willum Þór: The question remains if our healthcare system is sustainable

On January 1st, Iceland took over the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. This intergovernmental organisation plays an important role in promoting innovations, health data integration, and cooperation between all major stakeholders in the Nordic healthcare. The Icelandic Health Minister elaborates on his vision to future health in the Nordic region, the Nordic strengths, Iceland’s plans for the Presidency with regards to health innovations, and the coming collaboration with Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

CIFS ran an all-day session at the Week of Health and Innovation (WHINN) in Odense

Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies ran an all-day session at the annual Week of Health and Innovation (WHINN) in Odense, Denmark. CIFS’ program attracted over 40 experts from health and data organisations. We presented strategic foresight and futures studies in the health sector, concepts that are used to reimagine the future of the health sector, such as the Humanome and decentralised clinical trials. Also, we had a panel discussion on the newly started Phase V project on decentralised clinical trials, where CIFS is a contributing partner

New HIMSS book out on blockchain in healthcare

The HIMSS Series has a new book on blockchain in healthcare. “Blockchain in Healthcare: Innovations that Empower Patients, Connect Professionals, and Improve Care” is the title of the book. According to the book’s authors, Vikram Dhillon, John Bass, Max Hooper, David Metcalf, and Alex Cahana, blockchain technology may hold the greatest potential in healthcare. Some of the first use cases in medical payments, electronic health records, HIPAA/data privacy, and drug counterfeiting have been explored by early pioneers. There is still much work to be done in order to automate the complexities of today’s healthcare systems and design new systems that are focused on trust, transparency, and aligning incentives. In this book, Metcalf, Bass, Hooper, Cahana, and Dhillon have assembled over 50 contributors, including early adopters, thought leaders, and health innovators. They tell their stories and share their knowledge. The videos and transcripts provided by many authors and contributors humanize the technical details and abstract aspects of blockchain. Using the fundamentals of blockchain, the authors curated a collection of future-oriented examples that build on early successes. After a brief introduction to the fundamentals and the protocols available, as well as early blockchain efforts specific to health and healthcare, the authors discuss the promise of smart contracts and protocols to automate complex, distributed processes and some of the early consortiums that are exploring the possibilities. Throughout the book are examples and use cases, with special attention given to the more advanced and far-reaching examples that can be scaled at an industry-level. In addition, a discussion of integrating blockchain technology into other advanced healthcare trends and IT systems – such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, value-based payments, patient engagement solutions, big data solutions, medical tourism, and clinical trials among many others – is presented. The final section provides a glimpse into the future using blockchain technology and examples of research projects that are still in labs across the globe.