The healthcare sector is slower to adopt technology than its counterparts in e-commerce or fintech, but innovation is still happening at a formidable speed. This creates a change and competition that will eventually force the sector to adopt innovation. And when patients start seeing faster and better results with technology, they will soon warm to the latest changes. However, whatever technology this sector adopts, it’s important that the human touch of medicine still remains throughout any medical process.
Risk aversion is rife
Doctors and patients are aware that a software fail in a hospital leads to much worse outcomes than in other workplaces. An unfriendly user-interface or a faulty Electronic Health Record (EHR) can delay treatment or even spell danger. In 2013, a horrific incident occurred where a patient was given 38x the dose of their regular medication, due to faulty EHR information.
The 2019 RSA Digital Risk Report highlights the major risks emerging from digital transformation in the healthcare solutions. Cyberattack is a crucial one. The increased use of medical devices that make up the internet of medical things (IoMT), such as wearables, mobile devices, apps, sensors, robotics, monitors, medical equipment, and implants, increase the risk of cyberattacks.
Another one is the dynamic workforce risk, which emanates from the fact that that technology is enabling the hiring of a diverse workforce in healthcare, including third parties, gig workers and others across dozens of IoMT devices. This creates the risk of improper worker access and authentication.
The third one is workforce and data privacy risk. Since there are several ways to collect and store personal health information, and because of its existence in so many applications and systems, it has become quite difficult to protect and determine who is responsible for protecting it.
These risks can lead to misaligned financial incentives and a change-averse culture among health providers as well as patients.
Hospitals have unique needs
Many hospitals’ requirements might not be addressed by the generic solutions available. For example, wearable devices, such as wristbands, sensors, headsets, and smart clothes that collect data like heartbeat and blood pressure are hot property in the healthcare market. However, none of these devices solve many health problems. Certain healthcare sectors will require very specific solutions, which might not be available right now.
Another reason why hospitals and blockchain in healthcare today organizations are wary of investing in new technology is that unless they feel 100% sure that the technology will work, they don’t want to take the risk.
Also, within health systems, there are inconsistencies between the concerns of the healthcare providers and other hospital staff. For example, a hospital’s administrators will prioritise differently from doctors. But for the hospital to adopt a particular technology, all parties have to be on board.
