Data Dynasty: How Board Members Can Digitally Thrive and Stay Ahead of the Game

Global digital transformation is in full swing and while its presence in healthcare brings opportunities and innovations, it also brings challenges, especially for corporate businesses. These large organizations must find ways not only to simply understand digital transformation efforts but to master them. This new reality urges board members to learn new ways of managing complex situations, acquire new skills for addressing challenges, and gain the ability to predict changes in regulations, markets, and industries.?

Digital changes that already impact healthcare?

According to an IDC study, the growth rates of overall digital transformation will reach up to 16.5 CAGR in 2022-2024, with investments of up to $6.3 trillion by the end of next year. Every business sector will be affected by this trend, healthcare being no exception.?

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), and Natural Language Processing (NLP) are among the main technologies that companies must understand to remain relevant and thrive in the current digital era.

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Human-machine knowledge is creating an intelligent ecosystem that enables humans to be more productive and creativity-driven, leaving repetitive tasks to bots and other tools.

Type of technology innovations that Board Members must keep up with

In December 2021, LiveFreely, Inc. launched BUDDY for Apple Watches, a price-affordable application in which AI and ML are combined to help predict, prevent, and track the health challenges of older patients.?

This app has been developed as an alternative to complex and high-cost caregiving devices with its ability to increase the independence of senior patients and allow their caregivers to act quickly in life-and-death situations.?

AI and ML assist in transmitting real-time data to emergency department specialists in an ambulance heading to an older patient’s location to provide them with medical assistance. Buddy also alerts family members, caregivers, and first responders when irregularities occur in senior citizens’ state of health, improving the safety and autonomy of the people we care for.?

The app has a wide range of functions:

• Predicting and preventing falls (a leading cause of death in older patients) by triggering alerts when it spots modifications in patients’ walking;
• sending location alerts when dementia and Alzheimer's patients wander;
• monitoring medication schedules and sending reminders to improve medication adherence;
• sending alerts when irregular health patterns are identified;
• transmitting "Code blue" alerts when cardiac events occur.

While integrating new technology can be challenging for organizations, companies have understood how necessary these efforts are to build a competitive edge and thrive in an unpredictable market.?

Board members who recognize the stakes of embracing digital transformation are allocating the proper resources and funds. According to a survey released by Gartner, 89% of board directors state that all business growth strategies of their companies currently feature the digital business component.?

The survey also indicates that boards seek to invest in revolutionizing technologies that will pave the way to their companies’ digital success.??

49% of board directors interviewed stated that AI and Machine Learning technologies are a must for the digital success of their businesses. This data indicates that board members are taking steps toward digital endeavors.

What is the impact of Digital Transformation on Boards?

With so much information available at our fingertips, stakeholders expect companies to communicate openly and honestly about how they make decisions. This expectation is aligned with the demand for transparency and accountability that many stakeholders have already addressed.

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Internal controls, accurate and on-time financial reporting, and solid frameworks for managing risks are some of the tools that board members need to use to ensure smooth digital transformation efforts.

Digitization has caused a deeper focus on change and innovation— essential elements for staying ahead of the competitors in the market. It requires a mindset change from stability and predictability to one that understands change and innovation.?

Digital Transformation also requires a greater degree of collaboration and communication between the members of the board, who need to share and analyze business-impacting information and make well-informed decisions. A board consisting of members of different expertise, experience, background, and perspectives will be more successful in adapting the business to the digital market fast changes.?

How Board Members Can Digitally Thrive and Stay Ahead of the Game?

To achieve this objective, Board Members need to:

1. Understand and manage risk differently than before the Digital Age

Once entered into the Digital Transformation process, companies are exposed to new risks such as security breaches, cyber threats, or technology malfunctions. Understanding and implementing appropriate risk strategies will help manage these risks and give stakeholders peace of mind.?

At the same time, decisions need to be made a lot faster in a digitally-driven environment which implies a higher degree of risk than board members are used to. To ensure this risk is mitigated to some extent, boards need to use technology tools as support for the decision-making process. For example, AI and ML algorithms can extract valuable insights from available data, while data analytics can reveal “blind spots” before certain investments are made.

2. Embrace innovation and emerging technologies

Technology is evolving faster than ever before and leadership needs to be up-to-date with the most recent developments and their impact. But to stay ahead of the game, board members need to do more: they need to explore, understand, learn about, and capitalize on emerging technologies such as generative AI, ML, IoT, Web3 applications, Augmented Reality (AR), and Blockchain. These requirements are already turning into a set of skills that board members will need during their company’s digital transformation and beyond.

Embracing innovation and emerging technologies should be at the center of board meetings’ agenda, discussions, internal processes and policies, and organizational culture. Only this type of approach can ensure that Digital Transformation is embedded in company values and creates the premises for improved efficiency, results, and operational performance, all while staying ahead of the competition.?

3. Develop and implement a “customer first” strategy

Focusing on the customer is essential for Digital Transformation, as understanding and prioritizing behavioral patterns, preferences, and needs is an asset that enables companies to deliver on the demand for state-of-the-art, customized digital experiences.

To provide this type of experience, board members need to understand the value of digital tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and data analytics that will enable them to reach the “core” of customers’ expectations.

But “customer-first” should not be only a digital strategy, but a tangible one in terms of implementation in the organizational culture of the company. Processes, procedures, roles, and responsibilities in the company must be redefined to support this new approach to facilitate its successful implementation. Agility, adaptability, rigor, knowledge, and thoroughness are also key elements for companies to stay ahead of the game.

What should board members of health insurance companies do for a successful digital transformation?

Health Insurance companies have always relied on data to predict outcomes and to build or consolidate relationships with health plan members.

Today, health insurance companies collect and analyze data to help them stand out in the market. By providing registered and potential customers with outstanding experiences and complete transparency, they help them make better health coverage decisions.

For a successful digital transformation, board members of health insurance companies should:

a. Treat health plan members individually

Health plan members are tired of being treated as “statistics”, as numbers on a screen. Instead, they are looking for healthcare insurers that will see and hear them, that will understand their healthcare needs, concerns, and expectations. Instead of treating them as groups, board members should focus their strategies on using data analytics to create digital solutions for understanding and meeting customers’ requirements and expectations. Today “Big data” provides impossible amounts of information and health insurance companies need to secure the resources (technology-supported or human) that can help them use this data for the benefit of their customers.

b. Use tech to motivate members to improve their health outcomes

If they are always keen on finding innovative technology that will stimulate people to improve their health, board members can define clear guidelines for investing in ground-breaking wearables and AI and Machine-Learning-driven technology that will make this happen.

Wearables such as Fitbit can use data to establish patients' behavioral patterns and design analytics-enabled solutions that will motivate members to develop and maintain healthy habits or stick to their medication.

Using AI to analyze patients’ claims can result in algorithms-generated Health Risk Assessments— evaluations that compare members against a set average. High-risk patients can be encouraged to stop smoking, for instance, by being offered gift cards or another type of incentive.?

Predictive Analytics is a tech tool that health insurance companies can use not to exclude high-risk patients from health plans, but to design plans and coverage suited to their needs and to establish corresponding pricing for these plans.

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Digital transformation is changing corporate governance and board members to gain new skills and a fresh mindset to navigate it successfully. By focusing on innovation, change, agility, risk, innovation, emerging technologies, and developing a digital and customer-first mindset, board members will contribute to technology embedding in the company’s DNA and to its long-term success.

Additional sources:

https://www.digitalnationaus.com.au/news/column-how-board-members-will-tackle-digital-transformation-next-financial-year-596298

https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-10-19-gartner-says-89-percent-of-board-directors-say-digital-is-embedded-in-all-business-growth-strategies

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/digital-frontier-reinventing-corporate-governance-board-moreira/

https://global.hitachi-solutions.com/blog/big-data-in-health-insurance/

https://www.globenewswire.com/Ne/news-release/2021/12/22/2356817/0/en/LiveFreely-Announces-Apple-Watch-Version-of-BUDDY-the-Predictive-AI-Driven-Digital-Health-Assistant-for-Seniors-and-Their-Loved-Ones.html

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/how-intelligent-automation-can-power-sustainable-economies/