A primary care physician uploads lab results for a patient through an online portal. A hospital sends an automated text about an upcoming vaccination appointment. A hospice nurse onboards a patient using a single smartphone instead of a pile of papers and binders.

At the heart of these care journeys stand the patients, who have better access to personal health information and the clinicians who are supporting their path to holistic health.

Many healthcare leaders remain firm in their vision for better patient experiences through digital transformation; 92 percent have pinned those improved experiences as the top desired outcome from investments in digital capabilities, according to research from Deloitte. But organizational culture, lack of ownership and poor communication continue to be major barriers.

These transformations won’t slow down, especially now that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical, immediate need for a makeover in patient access. Eighty-one percent of healthcare executives say the pace is only accelerating for their organization, according to a 2021 Accenture survey, and 73 percent say that their technology infrastructure is becoming crucial to overall organizational success.

Modernizing workflows and infrastructures needs to be top of mind for healthcare systems as they adapt to a pandemic-influenced evolving business landscape and changing expectations for care delivery.

Health Systems Make Bold Moves in Digital Transformation
In this issue, HealthTech highlights wins in streamlined clinical communication and collaboration strategies, agile location-independent workflows and infrastructure upgrades:

In “3 Health Tech Trends to Watch in 2022," a major tech trend for 2022 takes center stage with New York-based Northwell Health’s clinical communication and collaboration approach for physicians and nurses.

“How the Shift to Digitally Streamlined Workflow Helps Improve Care” describes how Georgia-based PruittHealth upgraded its aging IT service management platform to ServiceNow to better support its 16,000 employees.

And in “As Healthcare Modernizes, Cloud-Based Communication Systems Take Over,” Island Hospital in Anacortes, Wash., serves a rural, seaside area whose older community members would rather pick up a phone than send an email or log on to a portal. To meet patients where they are, the hospital upgraded to Cisco UCS communication and collaboration tools. “With this foundation, we can plug in other communication technology,” says Network Engineer Shane Taylor.