As they seek to identify a clear business case for digital projects, some hospitals are developing integrated programs and procedures to vet new technology.

More hospitals want to build or expand their digital healthcare programs, but many are moving cautiously due to lack of time, money and confidence that the projects will succeed.

A recent survey of 317 hospital executives, including 44 CEOs, by the American Hospital Association finds that 75% of hospitals believe digital innovation is important “because it has strong ties to long-term strategy and competitive differentiation.” But more than 50% of survey respondents say they are holding off on deploying many digital healthcare initiatives due to a lack of time and money and fear of creating unintended operational burdens.

As they seek to identify a clear business case for digital projects, some hospitals, such as Carolinas Healthcare and Spectrum Health, are establishing committees, designating executives and developing programs and procedures to vet new technology.

Our motivation is the digital patient experience—meeting consumers wherever they are and however they want because if we don’t they have other options

For example, Carolinas HealthCare System, a regional operator of eight hospitals based in Charlotte, uses a four-point technology evaluation method, says vice president of information and analytics services Pamela Landis. A full-time staff of nine employees reporting to a chief innovation officer evaluates new technology, and, once the hospital makes a selection, works with commercial technology providers and internal departments to deploy the new hardware, software or application. “We make decisions where to put limited resources based on a defined criteria,” Landis says.

Carolinas Healthcare’s defined criteria is straightforward. Any new technology needs to provide a return on investment that cuts costs or increases revenue and improve operating efficiencies. New applications must improve patient care and outcomes

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Carolinas Healthcare sees itself as a progressive user of new technology and is using artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and sensors and wearables. For example, Carolinas HealthCare enables patients with an Alexa-enabled device to ask for the location of the nearest urgent care or emergency department and get current wait times at each facility. Alexa is voice-activated personal assistant software developed by Amazon.com Inc. and built into the Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot devices.

The health system’s MyCarolinas Tracker mobile app can incorporate data from multiple devices, including fitness trackers, blood pressure cuffs, and heart rate monitors, to monitor a patient’s daily activity, weight, nutrition, blood pressure, sleep patterns, mood, and blood sugar, among other metrics. The data is then updated to electronic health records.

Carolinas Healthcare is seeing results. For example, the Internet of Things and the MyCarolinas Tracker app, which tracks and aggregates data is improving patient care management. In one instance 81% of diabetes patients taking part in a mobile health initiative lowered their blood sugar levels by an average of 17%.

A centralized planning and workflow process for digital healthcare is also helping Carolinas Healthcare develop better connectivity to share electronic healthcare records with other regional health systems.

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In June Carolinas HealthCare System and Novant Health, integrated their electronic health records systems into one shared health information network for the region in and around Charlotte.

Carolinas, which runs a Cerner Corp. electronic records system, and Novant, which operates on a system from Epic Systems Inc., now operate one shared electronic health network with a data repository of nine million records.

The patient information available typically includes demographics, test results, transcribed documents, medical diagnoses and visit summaries. “This collaboration will improve efficiency and enhance patient care and allow providers to make more informed decisions because of a more timely and broader view of our patients’ health and medication information,” says Carolinas chief information and analytics officer Craig Richardville. “What used to take days or weeks to receive patient information from another health system will now be near instantaneous.”

One of the biggest factors that made the network integration possible was having establishing procedures and teams in place to handle complex digital healthcare projects.

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“Our motivation is the digital patient experience—meeting consumers wherever they are and however they want because if we don’t they have other options,” Landis says. “ROI follows from that—it’s important, but not the primary driver of why we do the work that we do. Outcomes and adoption are.”

To succeed in digital healthcare, every hospital and health system needs an agent of change to take on the tough task of coordinating tight budgets, updating and integrating old computer systems with newer web technology, and building internal support for consumer- and web-driven healthcare in institutions that often are notorious for red tape and bureaucracy. SAYS WHO?

At Spectrum Health, a health system with 12 hospitals and headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., that digital healthcare leader is executive vice president and chief operating officer Christina Freese Decker. “I see my role as the champion of digital in our organization,” Freese Decker says. “I help teams see how digital tools can better serve consumers and also present an exciting growth opportunity for our people because this is an opportunity for our teams to learn new skills and stretch their knowledge on behalf of our consumers. In five years, digital healthcare via emerging technology will be another tool, like a stethoscope, that we will use every day.”

With a single executive overseeing digital healthcare, Spectrum has been able to get programs such as consumer healthcare up and running relatively quickly. In In 2015 Spectrum introduced MedNow, a consumer telehealth program for online care of colds and flu, earache, pink eye, sprains and strains, sinus problems and other less serious conditions. MedNow also provides online consultations for cardiology, diabetes, infectious disease, wound care, vascular services, oncology and other follow-up care, and virtual tools that track and review patient heart rates and other important data.

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Spectrum was one of the first health systems in Michigan to offer consumer telehealth, a program that is gaining in popularity with patients looking for easier and more convenient options than a walk-in clinic or the emergency room. Over three years built telehealth volume to 17,000 total visits and more than 8,000 patients have now downloaded the MedNow app.

“The way consumers engage with us is changing all the time and we need to move quickly to provide consumers with new ways of improving their health conveniently, using devices they have in their hands every day,” Freese Decker says. “That means our teams must embrace digital health tools with similar passion as consumers and my role is to help our teams see the possibilities and new ways of connecting that make a difference for consumers.

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