Bridging Digital Technology And Humanity To Help Transform Healthcare

By M. Bridget Duffy, Vocera

Harvard Business Review recently published an article I authored called Keeping Human Stories at the Center of Health Care.

The article is about finding ways to intersect digital technology and a focus on humanizing healthcare so we can build (or rebuild) trusted relationships between patients and clinicians. Those relationships are the epicenter of healthcare and healing ecosystem. To drive transformation and an ideal future of caring, here, with relationships, is where we need to start.

Actions for Transformation

The article discusses a full complement of actions we – doctors, nurses, healthcare leaders, and cross-industry allies – need to take to enable transformation. Following is a synopsis of those actions:

• Place the well-being of patients and care teams at the top of the list for every initiative we undertake and every technology we introduce.
• Use a metric for well-being before and after a new technology is deployed to assess its impact on operational efficiency and clinician relationships and well-being.