In the healthcare environment, complex processes and resources must be managed, often under time pressure and without advance warning regarding patient volume or need – especially for walk-in and emergency services.
The challenges for operational procedures include the requirement to maintain flexibility as needs regularly change, the intricacy of human and material resource allocation, and navigating shortages across personnel and the supply of resources.
Many healthcare systems were already struggling with insufficient or inefficient resourcing before the COVID-19 pandemic put increased strain on already overburdened systems. Economic uncertainty, staff shortages, and supply chain issues increase these shortages. When faced with ongoing adversity, these crucial services need to be equipped for success instead of worn thin.
The need for digital transformation
As with other industries, the need for digital transformation to rise to the challenge of rapid change is clear. In an IQVIA survey of 33 senior executives representing mid-to-large MedTech organisations, over 60% indicated that adopting digital technologies is critical.
In an era when advanced technology is becoming increasingly available to support industries with complex levels of data and multiple resources to manage, the struggling healthcare industry (impacted significantly by the pandemic) is in severe need of such adoption.
Technology for managing operations is already in use within healthcare environments. Still, many of these tools come from different providers, were not designed to cope with the unforeseen problems currently impacting healthcare, and are not cross-functional with the capability needed to handle multiple types of resources. Hospitals do not have large IT departments and must go to individual providers for software support when these systems break down.
Improving efficiencies and patient experiences
These tools can do the tasks they were designed for within their specific silos and do these tasks well enough, but this is a partial solution. Per department, personnel still use physical calendars and whiteboards when designating rooms, staff and equipment. This is inefficient as information is localised to one area and must be constantly updated manually.
Stakeholders are also limited to inefficient processes when it comes to gaining a wide-lens view of the environment for crucial decision-making. This involves manually collating internal data into spreadsheets (decades-old technology). This is incredibly time-consuming, and when managing outside suppliers is added to the equation, this task only increases in complexity.
For stakeholders, a digitally enhanced holistic view of cross-department operations will be essential during the recession. Operational efficiency is the starting point for reducing wastage, improving productivity, and correctly allocating resources. This investment will be swiftly returned through cost savings.
There is also the opportunity to improve patient experiences. In a climate where people are accustomed to digitally enhanced experiences in other environments, encountering operational inefficiency within their medical care can be frustrating and offputting. When facing a medical issue, the expected process of taking time off work, travelling to the local hospital, long waiting times, inefficiency across admin, procedures, and time with the specialist, many potential patients are put off from seeking help. Patients waiting until an issue has accelerated before seeking treatment can increase the cost to the healthcare provider as more intensive treatment may be needed the longer medical care is delayed.
Having a holistic, cross-functional, and multi-resource planning and scheduling med-tech solution can alleviate many of these patient concerns and improve their experiences and expectations for their patients. Accessible and intuitive interfaces for base operations will create digitally-enhanced DNA within an institution’s culture, paving the road for further technological adoption in the future.
Digital investment vs economic uncertainty
Although some experts believe that the med-tech industry is somewhat untouchable during a recession, as the need for these innovations will continue regardless of the fluctuating economy, the reality is budgets will tighten, and spending will become more conservative. However, money should not be diverted away from well-needed digital transformation and focused on what appear to be more prominent pain points – such as staffing. This action will be counterproductive in the long term as it is technology that can significantly assist with alleviating staffing pressure through drastically improving operational efficiency. In many cases, it is due to the stress of the pandemic and institutional problems that skilled staff have abandoned public healthcare services for the less turbulent private healthcare sector. It is the root problem that should be addressed, not the symptoms.
Investment in technology to improve healthcare operational efficiency is vital, not despite the recession but because of it.
Stephane Bensoussan
Stephane Bensoussan is the Head of Operations at dizmo and the product owner of Planisy, the latest product powered by dizmo’s technology. Through his Large Industrial and Technical background, Stephane brings over 30 years of experience working in high-tech environments across marketing, sales, business development, operations, strategic partnerships, and R&D. Stephane is a cross-disciplinary individual who has the ability to bring new innovations to the market.