This year Gozio had the opportunity to participate in three different regional events as part of Healthcare Innovation’s Summit Series. These gatherings offer an opportune meeting ground for surrounding health systems, clinical groups, consultants, researchers, and vendors to come together to discuss success in innovation, problem areas in need of innovating, and do some philosophizing on the meaning and purpose of innovation. Mark Hagland, editor-in-chief at Healthcare Innovation, is a warm and thoughtful presence guiding the proceedings with a well-considered combination of panels, interviews, break out sessions and networking opportunities.
From the very haunted (we suspect) Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia, to the tremendous Texas Medical Center in Houston, to sunny Beverly Hills, each event we attended was an excellent opportunity to connect with bright minds from different parts of the country. They also spanned what turned out to be a very interesting year for tech nerds everywhere with the explosion of AI into the public consciousness. In the springtime we were at peak hype with fears of skynet dominating the conversation, but by Q4 many have settled into some useful applications as the technology continues to develop. This was one of a few themes we noticed throughout the year, including:
Staffing Issues are a Problem
Often in panels at events like these, there are subjects which, once broached, dominate the discussion from then on out. This year, that subject is workforce challenges in healthcare. Staffing concerns are clearly on the minds of many in the healthcare space, with burnout and churn remaining one of the chief issues affecting healthcare organizations’ ability to deliver on their mission. Automation offers some promising potential, reducing grind and allowing professionals to focus on the parts of their job with the greatest impact. Change management and operationalization of new solutions can be tough though, with the danger of making a bad time worse.
Ruminations on Consumerization
It’s often remarked upon how far the consumer experience in digital health lags behind other verticals. There are many reasons for this, deserving of its own article, but progress has been slow. Some organizations do seem to be maturing and focusing on parts of the patient digital journey where thoughtful metrics combined with rapid solution iteration turn into that sacred cycle which will lead to a refined experience. There is a dark side to consumerism though, and many successful techniques of the attention economy are themselves rather unhealthy. The continued forays of Big Tech into healthcare, with Amazon’s Prime launch integrating One Medical’s services the most recent, there might be few other options besides adopting these trends.
OK more AI
Sorry, can’t help myself. By the end of the year, more people seem focused on practical, ‘right now’ solutions, while keeping an eye to the future. In line with staffing concerns, there’s been a keen interest in leveraging AI to automate services like the call center or assist in tedious tasks like note taking. While some solutions like chatbots might help with care navigation, we’re still a ways away from robo-doctors. With ‘hallucinations’, or most predominant generative language models’ inability to weigh confidence in an answer’s veracity, diagnostic use of such technology is far away from winning the public trust. While much focus has been placed on computers thinking like humans this year, we may be missing out on some of those solutions where computers are thinking in ways human brains don’t. AlphaFold is a good example of a specialized system focusing on a problem humans are ill suited to crack, protein folding in this case. But, we could talk about AI for days. Suffice it to say this was a big year for it.
Things we didn’t hear
Before I wrap up, I did want to note that there were some things I didn't hear. I don't think I heard the phrase "new normal" once, which was a blessing. Also, many of the solutions that rose to prominence during quarantine, namely virtual health and remote patient monitoring, seem to have moved to the backseat. Value-based care is close to the hearts of many in healthcare, but the real promise still seems far away. Finally, I am concerned that not enough people are talking about the negative business conditions which makes it difficult for new, innovative solutions to pop up. It’s one of the key reasons digital health technology lags behind. But perhaps events like these are helping to address that challenge.