My View: Adopting and adapting to the digital world

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Picture: Richard Hinchcliffe, ANZ head of healthcare, retirement villages, professionals and childcare

Guest column by Richard Hinchcliffe

Richard Hinchcliffe canvasses some of the issues the health sector needs to address so it can adopt and adapt to the digital world and reap the rewards of doing so.

In March, I attended a Trans-Tasman Business Circle lunch that included a panel discussion on digital health in New Zealand. I came away excited about what technology will bring to our health outcomes. However, I could not discard the nagging concern I had around the real issues our healthcare professionals face as they seek to adopt and adapt to this new digital world.

The three panel members were excellent, covered a broad area of healthcare and, interestingly, three common themes came through in their comments. These were time, road blocks and leadership.

Time

Change is taking time. The healthcare system seems to have built time into the process and, as a result, delivering new ideas and solutions appears out of line with the speed at which technology changes.

As a banker, I can see technology changing, but the systems and processes that have served banks in the past are now proving a challenge when new technology is implemented. I wonder if the same will happen in healthcare?

An example given included slow decision processes and the common request for proposal process for new services and contracts. In health, the RFP timeline process is often stretched and then it is not uncommon to find the final agreement has shrunk and the new technology is adapted to a smaller area. As a result, suppliers who win a contract can find they have committed significant time and resources to a much smaller contract.

Road blocks

If we are to adapt to the new digital health environment, some road blocks need to be removed before we adopt the new technology. Examples of road blocks were:

• leadership not being clear and at times not leading
•  clinicians resisting some change
• staff fearful of job losses
• sweating assets too long
• mindset and culture: will AI really be better?

Examples of recent digital health initiatives were given, e.g., telehealth for patients in Wellsworth, which would enable them to be seen by a doctor via digital means rather than them driving down to Takapuna. Another example was a simple initiative of using iPads for patient notes.

We were also given examples of significant developments overseas. For example, the NHS is now a leader for data and this is creating business opportunities for digital healthcare providers in the UK. In China, they are using AI to identify lung disease and this is resulting in better diagnostics and more patients being seen. The suggestion was the quality of the diagnosis had improved.

Sweating assets is a classic New Zealand issue and clearly stems from the budget challenges that a small country will always have. However, if productivity is to be improved and the delivery of healthcare is to change, equipment improvement will be key and needs to be adopted.

Leadership

The panel made some telling comments and were quick to acknowledge leadership must also adapt to the new environment. Telling comments included the following:

• Vision needs to be clear, set by management but with clinicians and staff being involved. Collaboration is critical.
• Leaders have a responsibility to establish clarity around the question, “what is the problem?”.
• Leadership must step up and increase the appetite for some risk (clearly this does not relate to patient risk).
• Leaders must think and act differently when it comes to IT.
• If we are to be a follower when it comes to digital health, perhaps leaders need to focus on productivity and removing simple and time-consuming tasks.
• Experiment. Examples given were chatbot’s and AI to help patients book appointments.

The panel members were Robyn Whittaker (Waitemata DHB), Scott Arrol (NZ Health IT) and Lloyd McCann (Mercy Radiology). All were excellent, positive and wanted to see healthcare adapt and adopt.

As consumers of personal electronics know only too well, if we are fearful of new technology and we do not adopt the new technology, we will not enjoy the benefits that new technology brings. Further, we will be left with technology that is slow and not fit for purpose.

Richard Hinchcliffe is the ANZ’s head of healthcare, retirement villages, professionals and childcare. This View is written in his personal capacity and not as an employee of ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited (ANZ). The views, opinions & statements made in this post are personal to him and don’t reflect the views or opinions of ANZ and shall not be attributed to ANZ.

Read more views:

Geoff King: CIO Interview: Delivering on diverse fronts

Kevin Ross: Industry View: Are we prepared for AI in the health sector

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