“We need to digitize both the hospitals and the patients at the same time.
We need to create a better infrastructure for cross-national collaborations.
There is a need of matching the exact right tech with the exact right challenges.”
These were some of the statements at the debate ‘How do we digitize hospitals and patient care in the Nordics?’ that we moderated. Thanks to LSX Nordic Congress for hosting the big congress.
The panelists were Linn Christensson General Manager Nordics and Benelux at Zimmer Biomet
Jeanette Tuval Head of Innovation, Karolinska University Hospital at Karolinska University Hospital
Britt-Marie Zaman Director Development Digital Health, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Sum up from the panel discussion
“We need to focus on the right partnerships and the right lead on change management to make the digital value very clear for all staff. – Empowering the patients is the right way to embrace the patients’ demand of digitalization. We should not focus on what we can NOT do but on what actually CAN be done.”
Watch the video below by clicking ‘play’
Some of the barriers
Implementation of innovation is one of the main barriers because there is a need of aligning an entire system and getting everybody ready in time. We need more systems to manage both groups.
The patients are asking about digital solutions, and hospitals are not completely ready on a national level.
It is difficult to get technology that is actually needed compared to what companies that think the healthcare industry needs.
Are we digitizing the hospitals or the patients?
It’s both things at the same time and there is a lot of work to be done still. Hospitals are trying to open up staff’s mindset and to challenge the hospital systems.
Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset
Karolinska is working on streamlining all the data. There is a general investment in the project and they can see that the clinical employees are ready. However, they will need to create new job professions that are aligned with the digitization. lt is very important to take into consideration what will be needed in order to enable the implementation of a product.
They have developed the “game plan” which illustrates different possible collaboration paths and strategies and what to think about when the endpoint goal is implementation.
Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset:
In 2 years, the hospital has educated 14.000 employees out of 17.000 in digital competence, and it lifted the baseline of digital competences. There is also a rise of innovative suggestions and approaches from different levels at the hospitals. Visualization and automation are functions and support we have developed in recent years that help with both strategic and daily decisions
It is important that everybody in the hospital sees the value in the innovative digitalization
Zimmer Biomet:
Robotic and digital technology are helping to unlock data-powered insights across the whole care pathway. An example is taking the subjective nature of surgery – the “feel” – and putting numbers to it. The benefits we see come from helping customers to streamline communication and automate workflows for surgeons, administrators and care teams – so we can return more people to reduce their pain and return to mobility.
New partnerships are important for the transformation of healthcare, because strong collaborations open up for bigger results. It is also very important having the right change management.
