As systems and priorities change, healthcare needs to be more patient-centric, says Steve Tassell, Global Product Marketing Manager at Bizagi
Increased health awareness has resulted in sweeping changes across the sector. The pendulum is shifting from illness to wellness and we’re seeing a new focus on truly personalised care. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. Take the NHS as an example, the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world which often makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. There are many challenges that every public sector organisation faces but legacy IT systems is an issue that has quickly risen on the list addressable priorities. A recent report found that the NHS buys more fax machines than any other organisation in the world. The same report reveals that some doctors have even turned to Snapchat to bypass these ageing systems.
There is a need for healthcare to become more information-driven and patient-centric. Patients must be empowered to take control of their own health by being connected to their own personal wellness data. Capturing the patients’ perspective of healthcare is now critical as both public and private health systems strive to be more responsive to the needs of the people using their services.
What it means to really put the patient first
With life and long-term well-being on the line, the emotional tipping points of patient dissatisfaction in healthcare are even more acute than in other industries. Importantly, patients want to feel that they’re interacting with a single healthcare organisation, one that’s well organised and doesn’t require them to explain their situation multiple times to different people. Unfortunately, the latter is what most patient’s experience. It’s now imperative for healthcare organisations to focus on providing a seamless experience across all of its patient touch points. The need for organisations across industries to get up to speed digitally in order to meet the demands of consumers has given rise to the term ‘Responsive Organisation’, and it’s a change that’s critical to the future of healthcare. Traditional healthcare organisations are now being disrupted by the introduction of new technologies that enable totally new ways of providing care.
Technology can act as a catalyst for much of the internal change needed to help healthcare organisations to be more responsive. By implementing a digital business platform as a technology ‘wrapper’ that is both agile and quick to deploy around siloed systems, disconnected information and services can be woven together. By consolidating data from siloed systems onto a unified platform, healthcare organisations can gain a full 360-degree view of each patient. This visibility empowers them to better respond to patients’ requests, engage with them in ways they prefer and identify their needs at a specific moment in time. By having the right information, at the right time, it will also help healthcare organisations deal with the flurry of data requests expected once the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. Described as being “of critical importance to the NHS” by the NHS European Office, the GDPR, will have to be applied across the EU by 25 May 2018.
Responsive healthcare in practice: a real-world example
Mentis Neuro Health, an organisation which delivers highly specialist neurological rehabilitation, adopted a digital business platform and successfully automated its most critical process. By reducing patient intake down from 2-3 weeks to 2-3 days, patients now get treatment more quickly. Mentis Neuro puts its success down to their ability to bring the IT function and business leaders together using the common language created by a Digital Business Platform. At the beginning of the journey, the clinicians didn’t know exactly what was needed, but by collaborating over a process model, the team was able to design exactly the right operations and business rules, then turn that model into an automated enterprise application.
Many of us now associate healthcare with long waits and high costs but digital business platforms can accelerate processes to discover new levels of digital efficiency. Digital business platforms empower healthcare organisations to be more responsive to patients, deliver services faster and provide a truly personalised patient experience. As in other industries, every function of healthcare is on the path to becoming digital. New technologies and capabilities that empower the patient are about to revolutionise the industry. By enabling access to higher-quality services and higher satisfaction rates overall, the new healthcare landscape holds promise for us all.
Steve Tassell
Global Product Marketing Manager
Bizagi
