Why does this need to hurt? How to create a truly integrated healthcare system

Just like many other industries, the healthcare industry, has had to improve its digital operations over the past two years to enable, for example, remote diagnosis where appropriate to keep vulnerable people and medical staff safe and away from hospitals. Beyond the immediate benefits, digital transformation in healthcare has had many other positive impacts, from how automating paperwork can allow doctors and nurses to spend more time with patients that need care, to the ease of treating people in their homes, and identifying potential cancer in cells through the use of AI.

However, there are still barriers that need to be overcome if we want to make healthcare truly integrated, which will ultimately allow patients to seamlessly move from in-person care to remote and vice versa, and much more. Fundamental to this evolution are three key elements: how data is handled, collaboration between public and private sector, and a cultural mindset shift.

Overcoming these barriers will be crucial if the NHS is going to combat its latest crisis of waiting times for operations, along with ambulance delays and other care issues. These needs are only becoming more pressing due to any combination of factors – not least an ageing population, and the prevalence of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, congestive heart failure and long Covid. In fact, Gartner recently stated that 41% of healthcare organisations are considered to be in a fragile state.

Bringing data together

It’s old news that data is the lifeblood of modern-day businesses, but it is particularly true in healthcare.

Running counter to this are the many concerns and regulations about how data is shared, stored and used by businesses trying to innovate in the sector. For example, while people might be comfortable with their recent online shopping history being available to relevant organisations, they are understandably less likely to be happy with the idea of the same applying to their intimate medical information.

This means security provisions for the collection and storage of data must be treated with the utmost importance and embedded at every level of data usage.

Likewise, any technology that is used to analyse and interpret this information, such as AI or machine learning, must be applied in an ethical and transparent way.

Finally, to truly unlock the value of data within healthcare, it will be crucial to ensure different stakeholders – GPs, hospitals and private healthcare providers – are joined up and sharing the right data in the right way so their various platforms can each make sense of it. If departments do not collaborate, they will suffer from repetition of work, or missed insights as crucial data points are overlooked, leading to a reduction in efficiency and patient outcomes.

As such, hospitals and other healthcare businesses need to be working closely with regulators and any technology partners to ensure patients are being kept up to date with what data is being shared with others, and for what reason. Similarly, reassurance that it is not being used for anything else than what it was promised for will be vital in ensuring that patients can feel more at ease with sharing personal information, and in building trust between providers and patients.

Creating an ecosystem

As well as encouraging collaboration between the NHS and other healthcare systems, it will also be essential for public bodies to work with private sector technology companies to create the best experiences. Likewise, if technology businesses try and go it alone, they will be restricting themselves to a much smaller market than that which could be reached by working with the NHS, has the largest collection of patient data available.

Long-standing reluctance and resistance need to be overcome for true digital benefits to be felt – put simply, the NHS simply does not have the expertise and resources to optimise these processes without this external support. Developing relationships between these two sectors will mean that the latest innovative and dynamic models can be rolled out to the whole population as soon as they are ready, while research into new healthcare solutions can occur.

Changing states of mind

Alongside assuaging data privacy concerns, for a true shift to integrated healthcare, there will need to be a fundamental change in how the public views healthcare.

Primarily, this means a shift from a state of mind where patients go to hospitals, to one where there’s instinctively the recognition that the NHS is already in the home through the use of wearable technology, connectivity and telemedicine, and that the first port of call does not necessarily have to be an in-person visit.

As part of this there will also need to be a push to ensure people who require healthcare are not left behind. For example, while there is concern older generations might not want to use technology as much as younger ones, we have seen that during the pandemic the broad majority were in fact happy to use the latest tech if it meant staying out of hospitals. However, we will need to ensure that fundamentals such as internet connectivity are available everywhere, and that any technology and wearables are affordable for both patients and the NHS.

If these barriers are overcome, the NHS will be able to realise the real gains of an integrated digital healthcare operation, with reduced costs, greater flexibility and efficiency across the entire system. We all want to see better personalised experiences and outcomes for patients, and a better work-life balance for doctors and nurses – this is how we can make that a reality.