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Those responsible for healthcare service provision recognise the need for integration of sensitive data and connectivity between medical devices, as well as the hospitals' clinical and financial management systems.
Technology has the potential to reduce costs by gaining efficiency in processes, increasing productivity and minimising waste. Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) technology can eliminate repetitive and bureaucratic processes with the intelligence that automation provides. Some of the activities that can be automated involve confirmation of appointments, scheduling, scaling of multidisciplinary teams, interoperability of sensitive data in operating rooms and ICUs, financial management, linking electronic medical records and many more applications.
The benefits of interoperability arise from four main activities, with implications for patient care and cost, according to the West Health Institute:
1. Reduction of adverse events due to security interlocks (estimated savings of US $ 2 billion).
2. Reduced service expenses by avoidance of repetitive tests (estimated savings of US $ 3 billion).
3. Increased productivity and reducing time spent on data entry (estimate savings of US $ 12 billion).
4. Increased healthcare capacity with reduced length of stay and integrated patient management.
It is therefore essential to outline plans and ideas for cost reduction in hospitals, clinics, offices and laboratories. Despite this urgency to minimize expenses, healthcare providers should not compromise on quality and safety in patient care After all, institutions must provide good experience for patients with efficient medical and clinical care and with dedication, attention and empathy.
Gary & West, in their recently released report "The value of medical device interoperability: improving patient care with more than $ 30 billion in annual health care savings.", found that the biggest interoperability drivers were:
1. Value / risk based care (51%)
2. Regulations (47%)
3. Adoption of emerging technologies (42%);
4. Consumer demand (41%).
The main aspects of healthcare provision to benefit in the next 3 years are:
1. Service cost reduction
2. Consumer experience improvement
3. Care coordination
4. Increasing access to care
According to Deloitte, interested parties must consider a series of strategies:
1. Make interoperability a priority. A clear understanding of the importance of interoperability is needed in the overall strategy.
2. Invest strategically, not tactically, focusing on next generation solutions and factoring interoperability across all of the organization's key business strategies.
3. Establish a competence center to lead adoption and increase value.
4. Include interoperability in current and future partnerships. Look for opportunities to introduce new forms of collaboration with your stakeholders.
5. Take advantage of compliance, privacy and security regulations like GDPR.
Congrats!