Organizations about to embark on digital transformational journeys are faced with immense pressure — but at the same time, they can tap into new opportunities. These organizations need to reimagine their businesses from the ground up and develop new foundational infrastructures building with digital technology and agility at their core. 

The healthcare industry is moving fast in this regard, with 84% of U.S.-based healthcare companies having already fully digitized their health records. 

While the transition may not seem huge on the surface, simply switching to digital health records has far-reaching benefits. Not only do these organizations provide higher quality patient care, but they are also able to provide their patients with better treatment outcomes, provide staff members with better workplace experiences and minimize the cost of treatments and services for patients. Non-digital healthcare organizations are quickly falling behind in all these regards. 

That said, healthcare organizations are only scratching the surface of the benefits of digital transformation. In the next few years, we will see these organizations continue to adopt more agile high-tech solutions and overhaul more aspects of their traditional infrastructure — think data-driven, technology-centric patient care and back-end management. 

Advancements in digital transformation reach far beyond digital records. Specifically, patient care has become increasingly hi-tech and automated for the benefit of the patient. For example, remote-monitoring capabilities help patient care providers understand a patient’s status in real time and can send alerts to the appropriate contact in the event of emergency. 

But widespread adoption of certain technologies hasn’t yet happened. AI might be the industry’s current go-to buzzphrase, but only 33% of U.S. healthcare organizations are currently implementing AI technology throughout their internal and external processes. 

This shouldn’t be cause for concern, as professionals within the space have been vocal about the likelihood of widespread adoption by as soon as 2023. Specifically, AI will become integrated throughout internal processes — from triage and administrative duties — and ultimately find its way into providing preventative care and data- and AI-driven diagnostics capabilities. It will aid providers by understanding more about specific patient pro les and compiling data to help them make increasingly educated decisions. 

Organizations are looking beyond the simple digitization of health records and toward actionable insights that AI-activated data can provide.

While AI investment may be slow at the moment, personalized care has become the industry standard. In fact, 75% of life sciences and healthcare organizations can customize products and services to almost every single interaction. Specifically, personalized implants will become increasingly agile, bringing more functionality than was imaginable even a half-decade ago. Access to newly developed biomaterials will change the way that we think about use cases for stent and prosthetic technology. New build processes will allow for more activations and more implantations than ever before — and at an unheard-of scale. AI-driven precision robotics will make even the most precise procedures minimally invasive and risk-free. 

In short, we’re at a vital turning point in healthcare’s evolution. Organizations are looking beyond the simple digitization of health records and toward actionable insights that AI-activated data can provide. There’s no telling what technologies will break ground within the healthcare space — but it’s safe to say that organizations that invest early and often will be the ones who benefit.

From the May 01, 2020 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media