The problems that permeate the US healthcare system are well known. An aging population with increasing health complexities, rising rates of obesity and cancer in younger peoplescalating costs, poor patient experiences and fragmented reimbursement are some of the pressures on the healthcare ecosystem. These challenges are aggravated by inadequate staffing, which will get exacerbated by the recent immigration crackdowns, potentially rising cost of medical equipment due to tariffs, and so much more.
Technology, including AI, emerges as a powerful tool for transformation. Indeed, technology, if used judiciously can generate unprecedented innovation in the industry.
Some examples showcase technology's transformative potential:
· Nuance uses AI and speech recognition to save 7 minutes per physician encounter by translating conversations into clinical notes (2)
· Multimodal AI can read PDF, leading to 40% to 80% more efficient coding (3)
· AI is diagnosing mental health conditions such as depression, autism and Alzheimer with increasing accuracy
· Pattern matching and LLMs are used to assist pathologists in detecting tumors. Videa Health is using AI to detect cavities and oral tumors, with a higher accuracy than doctors
· Remote patient monitoring, combined with the right care management, is increasingly effective at helping patients manage hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
· In elderly care, technology is extremely promising in improving care outcomes, optimizing workflows and information sharing, reducing cost, and transforming experiences for patients, care givers. and others. Examples include sensors to monitor gait and anticipate falls, tracking to give more freedom to patients with dementia, apps to improve medication adherence, fight loneliness and so on.
However, technology is not a magic bullet. It is a very important enabler that is part of a thoughtfully designed comprehensive solution designed to solve a problem or create value.
Here is a framework to consider:
· Start with what the late Clay Christensen called the "job to be done". what is the problem to solve? who are the stakeholders?
· Include the right stakeholders and consider the overall needs of the business. For example, if the goal is to modernize the IT infrastructure, the IT team and business owners should jointly decide which systems to upgrade and when by carefully considering implications.
· Carefully consider the user experience and make it the guiding principle. There has been too much technology thrown at healthcare providers, patients or others that have added to their burden rather than help them do their work. Technology works best when the user experience is intuitive, training is minimal, and when the solution fits within existing workflows.
· While AI's promise is immense, at its foundation, it relies on good, clean data. It requires making data gathering, analytics and decision making at the core of the organization. It needs an updated IT infrastructure that can support the needs of AI.
· Transformation driven by technology cannot exist in a vacuum. It requires a granular understanding of organizational processes and knowledge of the organizational goals and desired ROI (4)
· Consider a staged approach. For example, before adopting AI, start with robotic process automation (RPA) to start automating tasks (and collecting data)
These are some of the considerations for an organization looking to adopt technology. The key takeaway is that technology alone does not solve problems, but end-to-end seamless solutions, grounded in a sharp focus on the user experience, well-integrated in the operating environment and workflows, and aligned with the business objectives can be an agent of positive change.
