The race toward digital transformation has accelerated in the context of the pandemic. Many hospitals and health systems point toward their current plans or investments in digital technologies intended to maintain remote contact with their patients.
In November 2021, The Chartis Group surveyed 143 U.S. health system executives about the state of digital transformation. The survey result produced six critical findings, which are discussed below.
Finding 1: Although health system executives overwhelmingly agree that digital transformation is critical, most are stuck in the planning stages.
Almost all executives say it is essential to invest in digital transformation, primarily because it can improve outcomes and access by reducing the cost of care. However, many are still wading through the early planning of core initiatives.
Finding 2: The digital health competitive landscape is shifting as disruptors become rivals.
Virtual health and large technology companies now represent as much of a competitive threat to hospitals and health systems as their traditional competitive peer provider organizations.
Finding 3: New market entrants, not traditional hospitals and health systems, are setting the pace for digital transformation.
Not only are disruptors representing new competitive threats to hospitals and health systems, but they are also setting the bar in many markets as the digital transformation leaders.
Finding 4: Health systems want to understand their patient consumers better but have not yet aggregated those insights to personalize care meaningfully.
Among the foremost benefits of digital transformation is gaining greater insight into consumer behavior to personalize care experiences. However, most organizations are still only in planning mode and have not yet established the means to gather and apply these critical insights.
Finding 5: Expanding their scope of insights beyond clinical interactions will give health systems the depth of understanding they need to create differentiated digital experiences.
It’s essential to track how patients access care, not just why they are. Consolidating touch points like portal usage, phone calls, and web traffic can provide insightful data for providers to learn more about the patients they serve and match the digital offerings to patient interaction trends.
Finding 6: The key to successfully achieving digital transformation will be linking value drivers for the patient with the health system.
Achieving digital transformation is distinguished not so much by the technology itself but by the insights that technology can generate and apply. Accurately gauging consumer behavior and tailoring experiences to meet those needs enables hospitals and health systems to realize key value drivers that make those digital investments worthwhile.
Conclusion
Digital transformation is no longer an opt-in priority for hospitals and health systems. It is a necessary journey for them to not only plan but implement—and time is of the essence.
Answering this call to action will require provider organizations to create comprehensive views of their consumer behaviors, aggregate these insights, and apply them directly to improving the digitally enabled experiences.
Consumers will not wait for hospitals and health systems to be stuck in planning mode. They now demand improved digital care experiences and seek care through organizations that offer those experiences. It’s time to meet these needs and advance the digital transformation journey to implementation.
