Title: Digital Transformation in Healthcare
Category: Article Review
Sub Category: Systematic Review
Subject: Medical Sciences
References: APA
Topic: Reimagining Healthcare with Technology.
Introduction:
Technological and digital transformation has transformed every sector, and healthcare is no exception. Technology in healthcare settings refers to the system engineering initiatives to promote patient safety using information technology, medical devices and tools. The application of digital transformation using modern technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence and the Internet of things (IoT) has made the healthcare sector more patient-centric with substantial clinical impact aided by the accuracy of information and transformation of technical capabilities. Digital transformation uses digital information, data and communication technologies to gather, analyze and share information to improve healthcare delivery and patient care outcome. The most common technological trends in digital transformation include wireless and wearable gadgets, implantable and ingestible sensors, telemedicine, digital retention and precision testing. Furthermore, technological innovation has made room in a highly complex healthcare environment where intensive care units, trauma rooms and operating rooms have been upgraded to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.
Bhavnani, Narula, & Sengupta (2016) conducted a study to investigate the impact of technological advancement in the form of IoT-based instruments and wearable gadgets on increasing patient care and decreasing healthcare costs. The study used a systematic review of 17 peer-reviewed journals, suggesting that IoT-based technologies significantly improved patient outcomes by promoting self-monitoring, improved clinical decision support, reduced heart failure readmission, and improved quality of life. Furthermore, evidence from the findings shows that digital health technologies have subsequent potential to streamline, accelerate and optimize clinical research operations.
Sharma et al. (2018) investigated the current trends of the digital landscape in healthcare delivery and clinical care research. The study shows the application of digital transformation in creating diagnostic tools, disease management, decision support tool, recruitment of research participants and collecting novel endpoints of clinical studies. Furthermore, the study investigated the challenges faced in implementing digital healthcare technology in clinical research, which included quality of data, interoperability, reduction in productivity of healthcare workers, privacy and security of data. The other challenges faced by adapting these technologies include patient safety, ease of use, accessibility, privacy concerns, robustness, and data quality. Thus the article proposed solutions through the development of an innovation network, a collaboration of regulatory agencies and public-private partnerships to increase the penetration of digital health technologies, which has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery and improve healthcare outcomes.
Bayramzadeh & Aghaei (2021) conducted a systematic review using PRISMA and MMAT guidelines where the theoretical rationale of the SEIPS model, which emphasizes the harmonization of organization, people, technology, task and physical environment, was used to achieve the research outcomes. The study aimed to investigate the role of safety and efficiency in patient care and technology integration in critical and high-risk physical healthcare environments. Furthermore, the study analyzed the facilitators and barriers to adapting technology in complex healthcare settings. A sample of n=20 articles was shortlisted using three search engines: PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. Findings show that technological integration directly impacts efficiency, patient care, safety, teamwork, communication and perception of care in the highly critical healthcare environment. Furthermore, findings show that facilitators of technology include three determinants: layout design, equipment positioning, and decluttering, which can improve patient safety and efficiency.
Recommendations:
Evidence from the findings of (Bhavnani, Narula, & Sengupta, 2016; Sharma et al., 2018; Bayramzadeh & Aghaei, 2021) that digital transformation is widely applicable across various domains of the healthcare sector and have a significant positive impact on patient healthcare outcome and quality of patient care. Despite having significant advantages, the healthcare sector is facing significant challenges which can be prevented through regulation, a collaboration of research bodies and public-private partnerships. Evidence from Yap, Liu, Franchi, & Agha (2021) suggests that despite the evolution of technologies, the rollout of these technologies was slow but gained significant momentum during the pandemic of Covid-19, resulting in a massive technological transformation of the public healthcare sector as a whole.
Conclusion:
A systematic review of three Pub Med articles has been conducted to analyze the research area of reimagining digital transformation in the healthcare sector. The findings of three articles suggest a significant positive impact of technological transformation on patient outcomes, patient safety, improved healthcare delivery and self-monitoring and diagnosis of acute diseases.
