Page 27 - EngineerIT October 2022

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

opens opportunities to customise and improve the user experience, increase revenue, Could technology be
decrease costs and drive efficiencies. healthcare’s lifeline?
“We must be mindful that healthcare is a complex ecosystem. However, it is Verachia posed the question as to
possible to use the opportunities this provides us to pave the way to improved access to whether healthcare needs a new
healthcare, to leverage the data patterns in order to support preventative healthcare, and operating system, asking how technology
to enhance the user experience.” could be better integrated into our reality
and business strategies. The answer, he
Better use of data for improved healthcare experience believes, lies in using existing technology

An important point raised by keynote speaker Abdullah Verachia was that because people – but in new and different combinations
have become accustomed to a frictionless and seamless digital experience in everyday – to deliver better value.
life, they expect the same from their healthcare providers. “People are not worried “Phase one of healthcare
about the complexity that happens in the background, and so it is our role to demystify transformation focuses on the
this complexity and deliver their expectations. Everyone has been affected by the ‘great strengthening of core business, including
transformation’ during this period of technology acceleration, with priorities shifting and the improvement of costs, productivity
business models and ecosystems being reinvented. and patient experience over the shorter
“So, what does the future of healthcare look like?” Verachia asked. “Healthcare term. The second phase looks at revenue
technology allows us to think about how we can fundamentally improve the system to growth, leveraging current skills, building
bring down costs and add efficiencies.” new partnerships and entering adjacent
segments. Phase three concentrates on
Referring to ‘The Future of Healthcare: Insights and Implications from Multiple Global the longer term objective of reinvention,
Discussions’ by Tim Jones, Caroline Dewing and Jonathan Besser, Verachia spoke about creating or making the most of emerging
macro trends affecting the future of healthcare between 2020 and 2030, including spaces and new business models.”
the power of data, increasing patient centricity, and empowering more flexibility in He continued to explain that,
organisations. Additional points included: according to ‘The Future of Healthcare:
Insights and Implications from Multiple
• Urbanisation and health – we have a historical lens on how we manage budgets and Global Discussions’, the healthcare space
allocations; will see three different scenarios emerge:
technology saving the day; prevention
• The West versus the Rest – patients are becoming more demanding about what is taking over from sick-care and health
possible, and some features that can be adopted in an emergent market like South systems becoming increasingly privatised.
Africa must be provided at the right cost. This includes for instance tele-medicine, “With all these circumstances, it is
accelerated digital platforms and increased remote visits; critical to remember that technology
will play a role here, but digital is only an
• Prevention and wellness – recognising the importance of preventative healthcare enabler,” he added.
and individualised medicine in providing greater transparency and improved patient The Healthcare Indaba 2022 was
autonomy. The automation of workforce elements and making healthcare data- supported by platinum sponsors Aruba
enabled are critical factors here, so that the data can be utilised to leverage the and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE),
patient’s experience. as well as gold sponsors Cloudflare,
eNetworks, Hewlett Packard (HP),
Verachia also noted several areas where technology has had a significant influence on ManageEngine, OpenText, Palo Alto
the healthcare space in recent years, such as using medical wearable devices to improve Networks, Rubrik and Teraco. Highlights
preventative medicine, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enable personalised of the Indaba included presentations on
treatment. topics such as healthcare at the edge,
“According to research from Insider Intelligence, not only are 80 percent of consumers hybrid IT and identity management, as
willing to use smart watches that measure health data, but 84 percent of industry leaders well as pertinent solutions discussions
believe that AI will transform healthcare, with the AI-powered healthcare tools market by Datacentrix and the participating
set to exceed $34 billion by 2025 worldwide, says Tractica. technology partner experts. n
“Furthermore, patients want on-demand healthcare. They have more power now,
and as stated in a 2017 Accenture report, we’re seeing 77 percent of patients saying that For more information on the Datacentrix
the ability to book, change, or cancel appointments online is important in their choice of Healthcare Indaba 2022, please visit
a healthcare provider. People are far more digitally enabled today, and the way in which https://www.datacentrix.co.za/health_
they use technology is fundamentally different.” indaba_2022.html

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