By Sheetal Shah, Director of Health, Avanade
Market forces such as the consumerization of healthcare, rise of healthcare retail, and emerging digital upstarts mean health systems are faced with fundamentally re-thinking their business. Healthcare is ripe for disruption – it is one of the last major U.S. industries to be transformed by technology advancements and business model innovations and is seemingly intractably tied to technologies, processes, and implementation models that are highly organization-centric rather than patient-centric. In order to stay relevant in an increasingly digital world, traditional healthcare organizations must adopt a more patient-centric approach, encompassing everything from the design of their facilities to the processes and tools they use to deliver care. So what, exactly, does the hospital of the future look like?
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By Sheetal Shah, Director of Health, Avanade
Market forces such as the consumerization of healthcare, rise of healthcare retail, and emerging digital upstarts mean health systems are faced with fundamentally re-thinking their business. Healthcare is ripe for disruption – it is one of the last major U.S. industries to be transformed by technology advancements and business model innovations and is seemingly intractably tied to technologies, processes, and implementation models that are highly organization-centric rather than patient-centric. In order to stay relevant in an increasingly digital world, traditional healthcare organizations must adopt a more patient-centric approach, encompassing everything from the design of their facilities to the processes and tools they use to deliver care. So what, exactly, does the hospital of the future look like?
The future of health likely doesn’t wholly reside within the glass hallways of the new multi-billion dollar hospital build-ups of recent years. While these facilities will continue to serve a purpose, all signs are pointing to many services moving outside of these facilities and technology becoming a lever for a new digital healthcare facility. For existing facilities, building and service design will become increasingly patient-centered. Henry Ford Health System is a great example of a case where the facility is designed around the consumer experience; from valet and concierge services, to hair salons and extensive after-care programs, the organization has created a culture of service centered on the patient.
When it comes to a digital consumer experience, health systems should be considering how mobile devices and apps could become an extension of their services and care teams. They should think through where these digital means can support the patient/caregiver experience, how they can be leveraged to start the discharge planning before the patient has even been assigned a bed, or support the after-care parameters to measure and engage the patient post-visit, and later become the recovery and digital wellness coach – providing a lifeline back into the hospital.
These scenarios are perhaps best illustrated by examining New York-Presbyterian Hospital, which deployed an in-patient app allowing patients to seamlessly communicate with their care teams and access their health information from the bedside. With patient experience and quality becoming ever so quantifiable and impactful to reimbursements through the ACA – it’s very likely that these types of digital tools will continue to exert influence on the healthcare consumer, just as they have in retail and banking.
Taking the above example a step further, it won’t be long before lobbies, waiting rooms and registration stations transform entirely, or are simply gone – patients will have checked in and pre-paid on their mobile app before stepping foot into the hospital. By utilizing smart queuing and predictive analytics, hospitals will be able to better manage bed occupancy rates. In this scenario, a facility would be able to anticipate a patient’s arrival before the patient and perhaps their caregiver even enter the premises, at which time they’ll find a trained professional waiting to guide them to their room. The same app that the patient used to check in would detail his or her daily schedule, connect with the patient care team and enable bedside ordering of food and amenities.
Digital transformation will also impact the way the healthcare workplace operates. No longer reliant on patients being in the right place at the right time for a specialist to provide an opinion, clinical teams will be supported by virtualists, who can provide “anywhere, anytime” service. Specialists will be streamed via services such as Skype, to securely engage the patient or provide the physician with a quick curbside consult. Urgent care and ambulatory clinics born in the digital age, such as ZoomCare and OneMedical, are already providing virtual services, making it easy for patients to schedule using online scheduling tools, and to choose how they wish to conduct the visit – in person or virtually.
The healthcare industry is at a pivotal point. Skyrocketing costs, changing reimbursement models and new provider alignment strategies mean that organizations must balance managing costs and providing quality care. Digital technology is an important enabler of health systems’ ability to meet both of these goals while making the patient experience a more personalized one. Traditional healthcare organizations would be well-served to build consumer-centric journeys that leverage best practices from other industries, such as banking and retail, which will allow them to deliver the personalized experience that consumers have come to expect.
