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Today in Health IT

Top of Mind #3 for Healthcare CIOs – All Things Digital

Questions answered in this episode

  1. Can digital tools like chatbots and remote monitoring help address healthcare's projected nurse shortage?
  2. Why do hospital digital experiences lag far behind their physical campus investments?
  3. How are health systems breaking apart traditional portals to build customized digital front doors?
  4. What new possibilities emerge when ambient listening devices are deployed at patient bedsides?
  5. Is your health system's digital story one of fragmented tools or intentional patient experience design?

About this episode

Today, Digital made a breakthrough during the pandemic. Today we explore.

Transcript

Speaker 00:00:03 Today in health. Speaker 00:00:03 It, the story is top of mind things for healthcare CEOs. Speaker 00:00:07 And this is a top five list based on my recent interviews today. Speaker 00:00:11 Number three, digital. Speaker 00:00:13 My name is bill Russell. Speaker 00:00:14 I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system. Speaker 00:00:16 And creator this week in health, it a channel dedicated to keeping Speaker 00:00:20 health it staff current and engaged. Speaker 00:00:23 Just a quick reminder we have four new shows next year, this week Speaker 00:00:27 health news to stay current this week health conference for keynote Speaker 00:00:30 interviews and emerging products. Speaker 00:00:33 This week health community, where we hear from you about interesting solutions Speaker 00:00:37 to the problems facing healthcare from the people who are solving them. Speaker 00:00:41 And finally, this week health academy. Speaker 00:00:44 Where you go or send people to learn about the intersection of technology Speaker 00:00:48 and healthcare sign up at this week. Speaker 00:00:50 health.com/shows. Speaker 00:00:53 All right. Speaker 00:00:54 So this series this whole week, we were just doing a series top five things, Speaker 00:01:00 which are top of mind for healthcare CEOs. Speaker 00:01:03 And I came up with this list after doing about 23 interviews across three Speaker 00:01:09 conferences, , a lot of stuff going on. Speaker 00:01:11 And these are the five top of mind issues. Speaker 00:01:15 The other thing I did is I got together with some CEOs and Speaker 00:01:17 it just validated the list. Speaker 00:01:19 These are the things they were shaking their heads saying. Speaker 00:01:21 Yep. Speaker 00:01:22 That's it. Speaker 00:01:22 We are really focused on a lot of those things. Speaker 00:01:25 So on Monday we talked about labor. Speaker 00:01:26 We talked about staffing, the staffing shortage, not only Speaker 00:01:29 the staffing shortage in it. Speaker 00:01:31 But also the staffing shortages. Speaker 00:01:34 In nursing across the board, we're looking at a half million. Speaker 00:01:38 500,000 nurse shortfall within the next three years. Speaker 00:01:42 And so it is being asked to address some of those things. Speaker 00:01:46 Then yesterday, we talked about cybersecurity and the challenge Speaker 00:01:49 that we have for cybersecurity. Speaker 00:01:51 And I understand that some people might say, Hey, that's number one. Speaker 00:01:54 , but the reality is we got some money for cybersecurity about a year and a half ago. Speaker 00:01:59 This was really top of mind. Speaker 00:02:01 People went to the boards, they went to their leadership, they got some money. Speaker 00:02:04 We are making progress on the cyber, which is why I put it at number two. Speaker 00:02:09 And I feel like the staffing. Speaker 00:02:11 , is really a top of mind current issue that everyone is trying to address. Speaker 00:02:15 , number three, we're going to talk about today's digital. Speaker 00:02:17 Number four is automation. Speaker 00:02:19 We'll talk about that on Thursday. Speaker 00:02:21 And we're going to close out the week on Friday talking about care venues. Speaker 00:02:25 All right. Speaker 00:02:25 So today we're going to talk about digital. Speaker 00:02:28 And every CIO has a digital story, all things, digital chatbots, Speaker 00:02:32 ambient listening, digital front doors, remote patient monitoring. Speaker 00:02:36 We have, echos, iPads, and internet of things, all kinds of Speaker 00:02:40 devices, all kinds of use cases. Speaker 00:02:43 What is top of mind for the CIO? Speaker 00:02:45 What can we do with digital? Speaker 00:02:47 Can we address some of the staffing shortages that are projected in Speaker 00:02:51 healthcare Staffing shortages due to competition for it talent or the projected Speaker 00:02:55 half million shortfall and nurses. Speaker 00:02:57 Perhaps we can find time. Speaker 00:02:59 Make the existing staff, more efficient move tasks off of their Speaker 00:03:03 plate and have computer assistance. Speaker 00:03:05 Do the work. Speaker 00:03:06 We're going to talk a lot more about that tomorrow when we talk about automation, Speaker 00:03:09 but staffing is a major driver. Speaker 00:03:12 But you know what the primary driver is? Speaker 00:03:14 The primary driver was the pandemic. Speaker 00:03:16 We needed to do things remotely to maintain a safe distance and Speaker 00:03:21 still provide a high level of care. Speaker 00:03:23 Chat bots were an interesting case. Speaker 00:03:25 Study chatbots provided a, a guided experience that helped Speaker 00:03:29 people to determine the best course of action for their symptoms. Speaker 00:03:33 , find testing and even find answers to questions that they had a Speaker 00:03:36 computer assistant that was able to educate direct and even diagnose. Speaker 00:03:42 We called on our digital front doors to do more than our portals ever could do. Speaker 00:03:47 Health systems went into overdrive to adjust their tools, to provide the Speaker 00:03:50 services that the pandemic required. Speaker 00:03:53 I had quite a few conversations with health it leaders who've decided to Speaker 00:03:57 break down their, my chart implementation and utilize the components to build a Speaker 00:04:01 wrapper around my chart functionality. Speaker 00:04:04 So they could be more agile and build in new services that were Speaker 00:04:08 specific to their community. Speaker 00:04:10 No more one size fits all portal. Speaker 00:04:14 Or one size fits all digital front door. Speaker 00:04:17 Hopefully that word portal will go by the wayside here shortly. Speaker 00:04:21 One of the things that was exposed during the pandemic is that Speaker 00:04:24 our digital experience doesn't match our physical experience. Speaker 00:04:28 Say what you want about the waiting room, but we have invested Speaker 00:04:31 billions in beautiful campuses with amazing entries in waiting areas. Speaker 00:04:35 Our hospital buildings are becoming more and more advanced. Speaker 00:04:38 People are welcomed onto our campus. Speaker 00:04:40 Greeted and directed. Speaker 00:04:42 Our digital experiences, not so much. Speaker 00:04:45 It was a series of tools pulled together for functionality, not for experience. Speaker 00:04:50 Does it work? Speaker 00:04:51 Sure. Speaker 00:04:51 If you do it the right way. Speaker 00:04:53 Does it please the end user? Speaker 00:04:55 Not usually. Speaker 00:04:56 This is where the focus is now and where it's going to be over the next year or so. Speaker 00:05:00 How can we make our digital experiences pleasing to the clinical Speaker 00:05:04 user and pleasing to the consumer? Speaker 00:05:07 No small task for sure. Speaker 00:05:09 During the pandemic. Speaker 00:05:09 We also started to experiment with a new set of tools in the patient room. Speaker 00:05:14 Ambient clinical listening was on the rise prior to COVID. Speaker 00:05:17 But continues to accelerate. Speaker 00:05:21 The promise, being a fully formed note where the clinicians only interaction Speaker 00:05:25 with a keyboard is to approve the note. Speaker 00:05:28 That would be really nice. Speaker 00:05:30 I pads in the room to save PPE and Amazon echos also deploy to improve Speaker 00:05:35 communication systems that were found wanting during the pandemic. Speaker 00:05:39 The newly placed devices gave rise to innovation. Speaker 00:05:42 What can we do with listening devices at the bedside experiments and sued and Speaker 00:05:47 exciting prospects are on the horizon. Speaker 00:05:49 If you want to check out more, see this week in health it episode that I did with Speaker 00:05:53 Michelle Stansbury from Houston Methodist. Speaker 00:05:56 Really interesting stuff. Speaker 00:05:59 I guess the question is what's your digital story? Speaker 00:06:01 What is your system's digital story? Speaker 00:06:03 Healthcare has gone digital, but you know, all we have to do is turn the corner Speaker 00:06:08 and we see that fax machine and we know. Speaker 00:06:10 That we still have a long way to go. Speaker 00:06:13 That's all for today. Speaker 00:06:14 If you know someone that might benefit from our channel, Speaker 00:06:16 please forward them a note. Speaker 00:06:17 They can subscribe on our website this week, health.com Speaker 00:06:20 or this week health.com/shows. Speaker 00:06:22 Or wherever you listen to podcasts, apple, Google, overcast, Spotify, Speaker 00:06:25 Stitcher, you got the picture. Speaker 00:06:27 We are everywhere. Speaker 00:06:28 We want to thank our channel sponsors who are investing in our mission to develop Speaker 00:06:31 the next generation of health leaders. Speaker 00:06:33 VMware Hill-Rom starboard advisers, McAfee and Aruba networks. Speaker 00:06:39 Thanks for listening.

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