Chief product officer (enterprise imaging and cloud solutions) at Change Healthcare.
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Health care is a complex industry, which makes gaining consensus on any particular issue a challenge. After connecting with health care leaders and colleagues at the SIIM21 Annual Meeting, there is at least one thing that we can all agree on: Digital health solutions have reshaped and will continue to transform care delivery and disease treatment.
While health care’s digital transformation was a top priority prior to Covid-19, the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital health tools. You can see this happening in real time with the use of telehealth, personal devices to access care, social determinants of health (SDoH) databases, cloud-native data storage solutions and countless other examples.
Despite how far we have come, much work lies ahead to fully realize the benefits of modern technology. With the momentum of Covid-19 moving us forward, there were several disruptive technologies discussed at SIIM21 that can help us clear the remaining hurdles impeding health care’s digital transformation.
I had the pleasure of joining a panel discussion on the business case for cloud adoption with Ken Brande, CIO at Imaging Healthcare Specialists; Eric Lacy, director of clinical applications and informatics at Central Illinois Radiological Associates, Ltd.; Jason Nagels, senior manager of informatics and operations at HDIRS; and Morris Panner, CEO at Ambra Health.
Cloud Adoption Is Expanding
A poignant takeaway from our conversation is that the cloud is “real.” In fact, according to BDO’s 2021 Healthcare Digital Transformation Survey, 78% of health care organizations have incorporated cloud computing into their operations, and another 20% plan on investing in the cloud.
While cloud adoption previously seemed elusive and intangible, it has not only become a serious consideration for health care organizations, but I believe it will also influence downstream innovations requiring mass amounts of data such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). As health care organizations are being asked to do more with less, the demand continues to grow.
This explosion of data parallels emerging cybersecurity needs, increased provider consolidation and regulatory focus on interoperability. Cloud and hybrid-cloud solutions can help organizations navigate these challenges while also meeting specific clinical, administrative and budgetary needs. Cloud solutions, particularly cloud-native, enable health care efficiency as well as patient satisfaction, which is the ultimate goal.
Direct-to-Consumer AI
The availability and scalability of cloud storage has the potential to be a game changer for research and development centered on raw data. Perhaps one of the most revolutionary innovations discussed at SIIM21 as a result of leveraging this raw data is direct-to-consumer AI for medical use.
Consumerism in health care has jumped to the forefront of industry leaders’ minds, especially as we continue to see venture capitalists and big tech enter the health care economy. This focus is reinforced by the increasing role consumers are playing in their own health care.
According to the Deloitte 2020 Survey of U.S. Health Care Consumers, 42% of U.S. consumers cited that they used tools to measure health improvement goals and fitness in 2020.
An example of this concept currently in practice is point-of-care ultrasounds. These new tools are coupled with an AI assistant to help guide users on probe placement and facilitate more efficient, timely diagnosis. This type of application requires only basic knowledge of the device and helps democratize technology to improve efficiency and diagnosis. It also has the potential to equip consumers with the ability to capture their own image and receive prediction about their health on something as common as a smartphone based on AI algorithms.
However, such an application doesn’t come without challenges. As an industry, it is imperative that we set standards for image labeling and classification and establish a common language with which to interpret images. We must ensure that consumers can responsibly use this technology in partnership with their provider to improve their health outcomes.
The Integrated Influx Of Health Data
A shift is happening within our health care system that is allowing more and more data to enter the health system. According to Capital Markets, 30% of the world’s data volume is being generated by the health care industry, and by 2025, the compound annual growth rate of data for health care will reach 36%.
Health care organizations must develop a plan to manage this data and integrate it with SDoH data, AI-fueled behavioral science, patient history and more to facilitate a more proactive approach to care. Value-based care — a buzzword for years now that emphasizes preventative care — may finally be within reach if health care leaders are able to harness this data and integrate it into clinical workflows.
Like the health care system itself, these topics are interwoven and complex. Overcoming these challenges will require hard work and dedication from the entire health care industry, but I am confident we are making incredible strides. We’re seeing cloud adoption that would have been unimaginable just 18 months ago. With the overnight adoption of telehealth, we are experiencing a watershed moment for digital health, and it is undeniable that we will see continued changes in the coming months leading to a complete transformation within just a few years.
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