Top investment areas for digital transformation in UK healthcare
Siemens Financial Services (SFS) has released new research identifying the priority investment areas for digital transformation in healthcare, the size of the investment challenge, and how healthcare organisations can manage that challenge.
Ageing populations, changing lifestyles and diets, rising levels of chronic complaints such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, are rapidly increasing the pressure on healthcare systems around the world. The digitalisation of healthcare provision is widely becoming acknowledged as an enabler to cope with this rising demand, improving patient outcomes, but without incurring escalating costs.
SFS interviewed respondents from across the globe – specialist management consultants, academic commentators, national health departments, medical associations and acute care organisations/groups – to understand where respondents saw the greatest and quickest value would come from digitalising healthcare.
The top three enabling technology investment areas highlighted by respondents were: (a) New generation (digitalised and/or mobile) diagnostics, (b) Remote access and communications platforms (Telemedicine) and (c) Smart, digitalised hospitals
Diagnostics
Digitalisation is impacting both the administration and management of diagnostic capabilities, and the performance of diagnostic equipment itself. Digital linkage of devices, for example, allows their clinical deployment to be optimised. Mobile diagnostic units allow for more rapid diagnosis and triage and maximise usage of human and equipment resources.
Remote access and communications platforms
By enabling patients to consult a doctor remotely, telemedicine can help counter the skills shortage faced by many healthcare systems. Telemedicine also links doctors to equipment and systems in dispersed locations, and respondents noted that the key to value and return on investment from remote medicine is to link hardware with systems and (clinical) professionals, as much as digital linkage between doctor and patient.
Smart digitalised hospitals
There are a wide range of smart hospital applications, for example, digitalised asset tracking makes sure the right equipment and technology is in the right place at the right time, dramatically reducing delays and cancellations. Predictive maintenance, using digital data from physical equipment, keeps precious technology and facilities available when they are needed. Such technologies make a significant contribution to patient experiences while also reducing the cost of treatment.
SFS’ research conservatively estimates the UK ‘investment challenge’ for these three investment areas alone to be to amount to very considerable sums over the next five years. Broken down, new generation diagnostic imaging requires ($1.5bn (£1.17bn), telemedicine $1.8 billion (£1.4bn) and smart hospitals $1.7bn (£1.3bn) across the five year period 2019-2023.
The majority of respondents noted the importance of being able to acquire digital transformation technology, equipment, skills and resources without the need to tie up scarce capital. Specialist financiers offer a range of financing tools designed to enable digital transformation by allowing healthcare bodies to pay to use the new generation technology, rather than having to buy it outright. They are created using the specialist financiers; intimate knowledge of the new digitalised technology and processes, a deep understanding of how that technology is applied in practice, and an experienced awareness of the benefits that are likely to accrue in each situation.
“Using specialist knowledge of the healthcare sector, each individual arrangement, whether for a single piece of technology or equipment, or for an enterprise-wide strategic digital upgrade, can be flexed to meet the organisation’s particular clinical and cash-flow needs,” says Chris Wilkinson, head of sales for healthcare and public sector for Siemens Financial Services in the UK. “A range of financing tools is available, designed to enable digital transformation by allowing healthcare organisations to pay to use the new generation technology. This helps them save precious capital while realising the benefits of digitalisation.”
